Safety Legends

By Brendan Torazzi

Have you ever wondered about the faces behind Australia's safety industry? Who are the visionaries shaping the landscape of protection and security across many industries? Safety Legends invites you on a compelling journey to unravel the stories of those who have dedicated their lives to safeguarding the wellbeing of others.

Based

• Language: English
• Publisher: AlertForce Pty Ltd
• Release date: Feb 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9781923007598

Brendan Torazzi

Brendan Torazzi is the director of AlertForce, a Registered Training Organisation specialising in health and safety compliance training that began in 2006. Brendan is also the director of OHS.com.au, an online health and safety training marketplace, and the host of the Australian Health and Safety Business podcast.

Book preview

SAFETY LEGEND #1

Educating about ocean dangers through a popular TV show, Bondi Rescue

Ben Davies, founder and producer of the popular Australian television show ‘Bondi Rescue’, has dedicated his life to raising awareness of the dangers of the ocean and educating beachgoers about the importance of safety. Starting his journey on the sandy shores of Bondi Beach as a surfer-turned-lifeguard, he then combined this passion with his career in the TV industry. There is no doubt that the work Ben shares with the world makes him an inspiring figure to all.

Let’s hear more from Ben himself.

A lifeguard’s true calling.

Back in 2004, I was working casually as a lifeguard and, partly by fluke, I thought I could combine this passion with my real job in television. I went around pitching this idea and ended up partnering with a friend – who at the time was much more senior than me – to get this project off the ground with a broadcaster. This was my first show and Channel 10 picked it up. The rest is history!

The show has seen some huge success across the world, which has in turn helped Bondi Beach become one of Sydney’s most visited beaches. But more importantly it has been an exceptionally important education tool.

Beach culture is synonymous with Australia and, thanks to the awareness raised by the show, it’s the dream of many international and domestic travellers to one day visit Bondi themselves.

How Bondi Rescue changed the way we see the ocean.

A study conducted by the University of New South Wales analysed the effects Bondi Rescue has had on the public. It is clear that people have learned a very strong safety message.

Honestly, the lifeguards at Bondi are doing fewer rescues compared to before the show started. We have a few theories about why that is. The first is that people are conscious of the potential of ending up on TV in an embarrassing situation so perhaps modify their behaviour and risk-taking to avoid this. Also, our show has been found to educate viewers on the importance of safety and survival, such as observing and swimming between the flags, putting your hand up and not panicking if you’re in trouble, and going with the rip rather than against it. In some situations, people have even performed CPR on their children after pulling them out of swimming pools because they saw it on our TV show.

Another theory we have is that, as there are a lot of cameras set up, lifeguards are constantly being filmed on their performance. They were without a doubt vigilant before the show came along, however we think they’re more vigilant now about keeping people between the flags and, in turn, fewer rescues are required.

This isn’t a made up Tv show. it’s always been the real deal.

Bondi Rescue is extremely different from reality TV. We don’t create a fictitious world that could be found in reality and populate it with people. Rather, this is a world that exists in front of your very eyes and we simply come along to film it and factually represent it on TV.

We have GoPros set up across the beach – about 20 of them are mounted on rescue boards, jet skis and buggies – that are rolling up to 10 hours a day.

For lifeguards, this is their job. They’re here to look after the safety of those who visit and swim at the beach, prevent accidents from occurring, conduct rescues and educate people on water safety. Each summer there are anywhere between 1000 and 2500 rescues, of which we probably film 400–500. However, only 20 are shared on our show – and they are generally the most dramatic ones.

Overcoming barriers.

Lifeguards are employed by the council, so every year we need to undergo council approval to return to the beach for filming. I think this is a very positive thing for the council due both to the surf safety messages that come across and the positive image created by the lifeguard service representing the council. Simply put, it’s a win-win.

it’s not just surfing, we also catch feral bulls!

Another observational docu-series I’m involved in is Gun Ringer on ABC iView. This follows the work of people catching feral bulls and buffalo. We’ve got helicopters, four-wheel drives going offroad through scrub at high speeds, and people behind the cameras hanging out of vehicles – strapped with harnesses, of course – to simply capture this work. The safety of our crew is of the utmost importance but this work will never be believed unless you see it.

The work of these bull-catchers is extremely dangerous and they’ve had many injuries. One guy we met has had hundreds of stitches and been gored by a bull through his groin! He’s had six broken legs and three broken arms – it’s pretty wild stuff. It doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world, so watching it in our very own outback is incredible.

What i’ve learned: The passion is there forever.

At the end of the day, I’m a local surfer who runs a business that shares my passion for surf and safety. I want to be remembered for being passionate about the shows I worked on.

You’ve got to be passionate about and enjoy what you do because 90% of the time it’s a hard slog. But that 10% makes everything worthwhile.

HELPFUL LINKS AND CONTACT INFO

•Podcast episode 5:

https://ohs.com.au/blogs/podcast/bondi-rescue-producer-ben-davies-talks-health-and-safety

•Ben on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-davies-58239320/

•Bondi Rescue on Channel 10:

https://10play.com.au/bondi-rescue

•Gun Ringer on ABC iview:

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/gun-ringer

SAFETY LEGEND #2

Alert but not alarmed: A career in safety

Brendan Torazzi has been involved with health and safety education in Australia since 2006. He is the founder and director of AlertForce, a registered training organisation specialising in short health and safety compliance courses and is the director of OHS.com.au, an online marketplace for health and safety education. Brendan is also the host of the Australian Health and Safety Business Podcast.

Let’s hear Brendan’s story.

I always had an entrepreneurial drive.

I saw my parents operate a successful antiques shop when I was a kid and the idea of running your own business independently really appealed to me.

I was full of ambition even as a teenager when I used to play in and promote bands. I loved the process of trying to make a go of something and the experience of believing something could be a success and putting all my energy into it.

After university, while I was waiting for my band’s big break, I came up with an idea to make Japanese signs for the tourist industry in Sydney. Even though it was the early 90s and the country was in recession, it took off and, over time, I turned this cottage business into a successful translation agency called Global Village Translations. Needless to say, my band faltered (it’s a great loss to the music world that we never got a crack at the big time!) but the business thrived. I ran it for 10 years then sold it in 2002 and used the money to travel the world with my wife, Amanda.

i was constantly on the lookout for the next big idea.

My next big idea came in the form of futuristic sleep pods.

I couldn’t wait to bring the concept from the USA to Australia so negotiated rights to MetroNaps, which promoted power napping pods for workplaces. I thought I was on to an absolute winner.

But it turned out I’d underestimated how difficult it would be to market them. And at that time, in 2006, the idea of allowing employees to nap at work was a hard sell. So, despite getting heaps of publicity for the new business, companies were not queuing up to invest.

It was a blow, both financially and for my morale.

But i never stay down for long. And every cloud, as they say…

It was through the MetroNaps business that I met Professor Drew Dawson, an international expert on sleep and fatigue research, organisational psychology, industrial relations negotiations and the effects of working hours on people. Drew told me about upcoming legislation regarding fatigue management in the transport industry and I could immediately see the potential so I started working to put a course together on sleep education.

I never imagined work health and safety would become a passion for me.

But it really did. I knew that to be taken seriously by providers and potential clients, I had to build up knowledge of the industry and understand the complex legislation involved. I partnered with a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) to get myself up to speed and launched my first online course. It was so successful that within three months, we’d gained 20% of the market for fatigue management training and AlertForce was born (I changed the business name to better reflect what we were doing). In 2011, AlertForce became an RTO in its own right, coinciding with the legislation of the WHS Act. Over the next five years we were well positioned to respond to the wave of legislated compliance training around dangerous goods, food safety, asbestos removal, NBN inductions and HSR training.

I’m excited about the future.

AlertForce has training centres in Canberra and Sydney and continues to expand the scope of its training services. The website, OHS.com.au is growing fast as it helps businesses and individuals with verification of competencies and NDIS knowledge-building. Workplace health and safety is a critical part of keeping Australian businesses and employees safe and I value being part of that. I also enjoy being alert to new opportunities and avenues for making training accessible.

But wait, there’s more…

Thanks to the success of AlertForce, Amanda and I were able to invest in Seacliff House, a gorgeous property on the NSW south coast that now hosts around 50 destination weddings every year.

Running the property comes with all kinds of challenges but it keeps us on our toes and we love helping people kick off their married life in such a beautiful location.

What I’ve learned: You have to work at a