Safety still a key factor despite the economy

SAFETY REMAINS a priority for business even in the face of global economic turmoil. This was borne out by the fact that there were more than 10,000 visits to the Safety Show Sydney this year.
It seems there is nothing like seeing solutions first-hand.
New South Wales’ largest workplace safety event, the Safety Show Sydney and Sydney Materials Handling trade shows, hosted more than 350 occupational health, safety and materials handling specialists across three and a half acres at the Sydney Showground in October.
Organiser, Marie Kinsella of Australian Exhibitions & Conferences, said visitors were increasingly keen to participate in demonstrations of safety products and services.
“People want to know how products feel, move and work as well as assessing potential suppliers,” said Kinsella.
She said the BullEx Australia fire-fighting sessions were an excellent example of trade show marketing. Outdoor fire demonstrations saw visitors and conference delegates “douse” flames with ultrasonic air and water training extinguishers while indoor sessions featured a simulated digital fire with laser training extinguishers.
“It was great to see show visitors and delegates step up to fight the fires themselves. We were able to quickly and easily give these individuals the knowledge and practice to properly deal with a real incipient stage fire,” said BullEx Australia’s Chris Chester.
“The show was the perfect place to hold demonstrations – we reached safety decision-makers across a huge array of industries. BullEx (which won the “Best Use of Medium” award) had a very successful show and a lot of interest from the big end of town, including airlines, hospitals and mining multinationals. Our products were also featured with the Rural Fire Service on the 9 Network’s Today show as part of the show’s publicity campaign,” said Chester.
Publicity also worked well for uvex safety, whose large colourful stand and ambassador, Olympic cyclist Anna Meares, captivated visitor attention.” While uvex is established as a market leader in eyewear, we are launching innovations in other PPE areas such as hearing protection, gloves, workwear and footwear,” said uvex safety Asia Pacific marketing director David Cross.
Active displays were also a feature of the concurrent Sydney Materials Handling show. ForkSafe had a boom lift in action, while huge green bags were lifted and shifted with ease by a VacuEasyLift from Kockums Bulk.
Among the other interactive events at The Safety Show and Sydney Materials Handling in 2008 were a series of free workshops from principal sponsor WorkCover NSW, demonstrations of the Australian Red Cross’s CPR on a mobile phone, a Talking First Aid Kit from Parasol EMT, check-ups by the Chiropractic Alliance and inspections by the Russell Williams posture police.
The Safety Show Sydney and Sydney Materials Handling will return to Sydney Olympic Park from 27-29 October, 29 in 2009. Meanwhile, Victoria will host Safety In Action and Melbourne Materials Handling at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre from 31 March to 2 April, 2009.