Historical information
Victorian Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (VIOSH) Australia is the Asia-Pacific centre for teaching and research in occupational health and safety (OHS) and is known as one of Australia's leaders in the field.
VIOSH has a global reputation for its innovative approach within the field of OHS management.
VIOSH had its first intake of students in 1979. At that time the Institution was known as the Ballarat College of Advanced Education. In 1990 it became known as Ballarat University College, then in 1994 as University of Ballarat. It was 2014 that it became Federation University.
VIOSH Australia students are safety managers, senior advisors and experienced OHS professionals. They come from all over Australia and industry.
Students are taught active research and enquiry; rather than textbook learning and a one-size fits all approach. VIOSH accepts people into the Graduate Diploma of Occupational Hazard Management who have no undergraduate degree - on the basis of extensive work experience and knowledge.
Harold Greenwood Thomas was one of a group of students who founded the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA). They all had attended the first Industrial Safety and Accident Prevention Course conducted by Melbourne Technical College in 1948.
Due to his long service to safety and prevention there is the Harold Greenwood Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award. This is the most prestigious award by the Institute and may be issued to a person who has demonstrated a combination of long term outstanding and influential contribution to the profession in a specific or generalist area of Occupational Health and Safety and Work Health and Safety, where there work has made a major impact on outcomes in Australian workplaces.
The Award will be issued once annually, but the board retains the right not to award in any given year, or in special circumstances more than once in a year. It Award is for an individual.
Dennis Else, VIOSH Ballarat, is the 6th person to win the Harold Greenwood Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award. This was in 2021
Physical description
Photograph - Black and White
