Our Mission Statement:

“To enhance the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of rural and regional Australia by assisting industry to establish and maintain worlds best practice in occupational health and safety risk management.”

Worlds best practice in occupational health and safety risk management.

Our goal is simple…’Safer working environments for rural regional Australia’.

Our philosophy also uncomplicated and strongly held. Employers, workers and their families most impacted by OHS in rural regional Australia, are also most suited when it comes to defining practical, cost effective and sustainable solutions.

Safer working environments for rural regional AustraliaTo that end, RuralSafe was established and continues to be managed by primary producers, regional employers and other highly skilled and committed OHS experts who are living and working in rural Australia.

With over 50 years of combined experience in rural OHS risk management and working together with industry, RuralSafe has developed the appropriate principles and management tools for controlling OHS in rural regional workplaces.

At RuralSafe our service delivery is flexible, client focused and innovative. We work closely with clients offering safety management system reviews, training, technical legal support and practical advice to assist towards ensuring legal compliance is not only achieved, it is rigorously maintained and your business benefits from it.

RuralSafe are the true OHS professionals backed by a proven track record of effectiveness in rural regional workplaces. To help ensure we remain abreast of the latest developments in OHS law, risk management best practice and industry initiatives, our consultants and trainers maintain high levels of formal OHS qualifications, a broad technical skills base and other credentials appropriate to your business’s OHS risk management needs.

We retain full membership of the Safety Institute of Australia and follow a strict code of conduct for delivery of a professional and ethical OHS consulting service.

RuralSafe provides OHS services for rural regional industries, at local, state and national levels. Our clients represent a range of small to medium sized enterprises including farming, commodity groups and grower associations, corporate agriculture, vineyards, horticulture, horse studs, rural service providers, construction, council and other government agencies, TAFE and the private sector.

James

PROFILE: RuralSafe Managing Director & Senior Consultant

JAMES HOULAHAN. MSc & Tech (OHS) UNSW, CPMSIA, RSP (Aust)
“for knowledge, practical experience, effective application and most importantly proven results in rural safety management, few others come close to matching the achievements of James Houlahan and the RuralSafe team.” – Helen Murray – Kurrembene Agribusiness

James has always lived and been active in rural industries and communities. His commitment towards helping industry enhance its viability and productivity through better safety performance and innovation adoption extends over 16 years.

Prior to establishing RuralSafe, James was deputy director with the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety, a position he held for over 10 years. During this period James helped establish and maintain a national network of key stakeholders in rural injury prevention. He also played a leading role in working with industry to define an OHS blueprint and strategy for reducing risks associated with life and work on Australian farms.

James is author of two industry endorsed and nationally implemented OHS risk management training programs. These were accredited by Farmsafe Australia and Agsafe Limited. He is technical writer/director of two rural safety training videos, and more recently co-designer and developer of the RuralSafe Induction On-line.

He has presented at (3) world injury prevention conferences and participated in the review and strategic planning of safety interventions in the USA and New Zealand.

On a non-remunerated basis, James sits on a number of Australian/New Zealand Standards- technical working committees associated with machine guarding, electrical safety and protective helmets.

Consultant and Farmers

James attended Tocal Agricultural College (Hunter Valley). Farming interests have included broadacre cropping, irrigated cotton and currently beef cattle grazing on the family property where he lives with his wife and two young sons.

James was awarded the prestigious (Swire Group) Churchill Fellowship in 1993, and with the generous sponsorship and support of the Cotton Research and Development Corporation the honour of participating in the world class Australian Rural Leadership Program (Course 10), graduating in 2004.

Relevant qualifications include:

MSc & Tech (OHS). UNSW
Grad Cert Management. CSU
Cert in Agriculture. CB Alexander Agricultural College
Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment
Chartered Professional Member of the Safety Institute of Australia
Registered Safety Professional (Australia)
Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Auditor
Environmental Management Systems Auditor
Managed by primary producers, regional employers and other highly skilled and committed OHS experts

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