By Alana Mitchelson
OUTLOOK’s Melissa Johnson has been recognised for her commitment to the welfare of work colleagues at the state-wide Worksafe Victoria awards night.
Ms Johnson was presented with the prestigious Return to Work Co-ordinator Excellence Award at the special gala ceremony on Friday 7 October in Melbourne.
She is the Return to Work Co-ordinator at Outlook, a Pakenham-based not-for-profit social enterprise which supports people with disability live active and fulfilled lives within their communities.
Ms Johnson has co-ordinated a comprehensive Return to Work (RTW) program at Outlook which ensures employees who have injuries or illness are supported in their workplace.
Outlook has nearly 200 staff members with about 70 per cent of its employees stemming from a disadvantaged background or possessing a pre-existing disability.
Ms Johnson said she supported staff through early intervention, a focus on wellbeing and training, using a network of medical practitioners and developing RTW plans.
She encourages employees to come forward about injuries so that they can be supported through the program.
Ms Johnson also eases the administrative burden of an employee’s injury by providing them with a pack containing information about returning to work and contacts throughout the process.
“As a not-for-profit this was our first participation in the awards as a finalist and we are both excited and humbled to be sharing these awards with such an amazing array of fellow finalists and all of the winners for their contributions to improving workplace safety,” she said.
Outlook was also acknowledged as a finalist in the Employer Excellence in Return to Work category of the awards.
Outlook CEO Sam Sondhi said he was proud of Ms Johnson for the achievement.
“It recognises Outlook’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of its employees and to maintaining a safe work place,” Mr Sondhi said.
“Outlook congratulates all the other winners and finalists in the 2016 WorkSafe Victoria Awards.”
