In 2018, the City of Greater Geelong initiated a unique program to improve occupational health and safety, called GeelongSafe. This included the funding of five traineeships hosted by GROW Compact signatories – Corio Waste Management; City of Greater Geelong; Aus Pits; WorkSafe and Epworth Geelong.
In line with the GROW objectives of supporting employment for job seekers from the communities of Corio, Norlane and Whittington, three of the five trainees were from the Northern Futures and Whittington Works programs and all had experienced barriers to gaining employment.
Owing to the inclusive efforts of these host employers, and the additional support offered by the City and Gforce Employment Solutions (another GROW signatory) all of the five trainees completed the Certificate III Work Health and Safety training through Mentor HR. Two of these trainees also completed a Certificate IV course at the request of their employers due to their outstanding performance.
Three of the trainees accepted ongoing roles at WorkSafe, Aus Pits and Corio Waste Management. The City of Greater Geelong has provided its trainee an additional 12 month traineeship and Epworth is assisting its trainee to find further employment.
These are extraordinary achievements and a testament to the commitment of these five GROW signatories to supporting job seekers to enter the workforce – a true representation of the GROW principles. The program has proven that the opportunities and benefits have resulted not just for the trainees, but also for the host employers.
Even more significantly, the trainees are now progressing their careers in sustainable employment – for them, GeelongSafe has been a life changing opportunity.
