Workplace safety show attracts 12,129 visitors

An Australian Exhibitions and Conferences product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 2, 2006

Safety In Action and Materials and Manual Handling 2006, Australia's longest running workplace safety show, attracted an unprecedented 12,129 visits over its three days in May.

Safety In Action and Materials and Manual Handling, Australia's longest running workplace safety show, attracted an unprecedented 12,129 visits over its three days in May.

With more than three acres of products and services from around 350 providers under one roof at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, the trade show's physical size is rivalled only by its sister event, The Safety Show Sydney, which will run from October 17 - 19 2006.

Visitor numbers continue to climb for the nine-year-old show, with this year's attendance representing a 28 per cent increase over 2005.

The show's organiser, Australian Exhibition and Conference's Marie Kinsella, said the growth reflected Safety In Action's status as the leading trade show in the blossoming field of occupational health and safety (OHS).

Ms Kinsella said the strong turnout was also "very encouraging" ahead of the upcoming inaugural Queensland Safety Show, which will run from Wednesday 21 to Friday 23 June at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

"Workplace safety was once a 'nice to have', then it became something you had to do just to keep people off your back and, now, it's appreciated as an integral part of doing business that will save money, protect productivity and potentially save lives too," she said.

"There aren't many business disciplines that can claim to do all that so, understandably, Australians are hungry to find out more.

"At Safety In Action, you can see more solutions to your safety challenges in one day than you'd be able to research in a year on your own.

That's why people come to this show and The Safety Show Sydney.

For the same reasons, we are confident the Queensland Safety Show will be a success, too." Early analysis of the industries represented by visitors to Safety In Action and Materials and Manual Handling indicated a particularly strong turnout from the manufacturing; building and construction; engineering; government; transport, distribution, and logistics; warehousing and materials handling; health and pharmaceuticals; food and beverages; and education and training sectors.

The products and services offered by exhibitors were equally as diverse, ranging from drug testing through to automation safety.

As well as at the exhibition displays, visitors saw safety solutions in action during interactive demonstrations, safety theatre presentations and expert-led tours of specialised safety fields.

Safety In Action and Materials and Manual Handling also hosted free seminars run by WorkSafe Victoria explaining the 'duty of employers to consult', which became law on January 1 this year.

More of the latest developments in workplace safety were examined at the concurrently held Safety In Action Conference, where around 1000 delegates heard from local and international speakers address everything from the Beaconsfield mining tragedy and avian influenza through to the legal system's approach to OHS.

The inaugural Queensland Safety Show will run from 21 -23 June 2006 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Meanwhile, The Safety Show, Sydney, will be held from 17-19 October 2006 at the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park.