FAQs

Damn straight, it’s all of the things!

Whether it’s. . .

• farm safety, road safety or child safety

• mental health, physical health or wellbeing

• small biz, big biz, or community

• work health + safety or occupational health + safety

• rural, regional or remote

• . . .you’re on land, in town or at sea

#PlantASeedForSafety’s broad, and it’s INCLUSIVE – because everyone’s needs are different, and everyone deserves to go home at the end of each day.

(We’re also big believers that if people are physically, emotionally, mentally and socially ‘safe’, then great health and wellbeing outcomes are the product of all these things. . .hence the primary focus on safety.)

Totally! However. . .

#PlantASeedForSafety is very focussed on helping as many people as possible, and Alex’s preference will always be to work with bigger groups of people.

Your best bet? Herd a few cool cats and host a group session, and perhaps consider collaborating with your local small biz group / industry association / grower group etc.

A note from Alex. . .

I’m so terribly, terribly sorry to hear that. I really hope everyone’s okay.

The short answer is yes, I can help, however this type of thing is best suited to my work as an actual safety consultant (yep, a real one). Check out alexthomas.com.au and give me a hoi.

Gosh, where do we start!

From speaking gigs to workshops, safety flash mobs to pub storytelling sessions – the sky really is the limit in terms of how we work with rural communities.

We’ve done national colouring-in competitions and #PlantASeedForSafety Pledges… hell, we’ve even mounted ‘Bloody Big #PlantASeedForSafety Shovels’ in all places that can be seen. The idea being that while we’re all for creating low cost, low risk, scalable stuff that can be done anywhere + everywhere – we’ll work with you to come up with whatever fancy-pants, creative stroke of genius is going to help make the message STICK.

Check out The work for more info.

Well ain’t that the million dollar question! (That just quietly, we may or may not have the answer to. . .wink!)

Believe it or not, safety DOES NOT have to be boring. Of course it has its nuances (otherwise everyone would be doing it), but jumping on our mailing list is a great (and free!) place to start. No spam. Ever.

Yes! . . . and no. At its core, #PlantASeedForSafety is a sexy metaphor that honours the women (and men) who have been planting seeds in the minds of others (mostly blokes, let’s be honest) to change their wicked, stoic ways, ever since the dawn of time.

However,  we have been known to plant actual seeds to commemorate this, as well as dishing out delightful packets of colourful goodness at events from time to time. Keen to hear more? Give us a yell!

1. Making safety FUN is at the core of everything we do. We don’t believe in taking a negative, reactive, bureaucratic approach to inspiring change. We’re here to prevent people from getting hurt, not to push them further up the proverbial without a paddle. . .or to use fear as a way of getting people to do something.

2. We know that real change comes from within rural communities. We know that no two communities are ever the same and we certainly don’t pretend to have all the answers. We do, however, have an insatiable thirst for collaboration, and are hell-bent on working with you to come up with innovative ways of making the message stick.

3. Alex’s approach to working with small businesses is evidence-based. (Yup, safety is an actual ‘science’, and Alex is an actual, dinky-di safety professional.) She does things differently, she’s not afraid to go against the underwhelming status quo and she certainly won’t shy away from those with differing opinions.

4. We’re not here to tell anyone what to do. We believe you’re the experts in your businesses, communities and ways of life, and we help facilitate safer, healthier outcomes. . .we don’t prescribe them.

5. Alex will never, ever ask a small business to write a policy or procedure. She’s obsessed with helping businesses meet the intent of the law – which is just. don’t. kill someone.  She  knows there are a thousand, million more practical, more effective ways of achieving that AND demonstrating ‘compliance’ at the same time.

With over 90% of fatalities* in ag being men, it recognises that rural women are often:

• experts in their partners, homes, businesses and/or communities (and are ‘in the know’
  when it comes to influencing change)

• the closest other person to the work (and the only other person able to start a
  conversation about health + safety)

• less likely to take risk

• left carrying the load if sh*t hits the fan

• able to offer a fresh perspective (and haven’t been ‘doing it this way for years’!)

• are innately concerned about the health, safety and wellbeing of those around them.

*Safe Work Australia | Figure likely to be far greater due non-work related fatalities not captured in this data set.

Abso-freakin-lutely! End of the day, we’re all in this together, and we have our ways of working with all sorts of different audiences. . . whether they’re exclusively male, female, a combination of both, or diverse for other reasons.