Safety and health above all else is our number one promise and SHEQ professional Bridie Vico lives this mantra every day. 

Her skills and passions were recognised last night in the Australian Institute of Health & Safety (AIHS) 2022 Australian Workplace Health & Safety Awards, where she won the Young Health & Safety Leader Award. 

As Network Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Manager for Ventia's NSW's Motorways and Tunnels projects, Bridie is no stranger to the importance of safety in a 24/7 business. 

From late night shutdowns to perform critical maintenance works, keeping projects aligned to relevant environmental protocols, and maintaining the mental and physical well being of the team - Bridie has achieved a lot in her four years at Ventia.

"I oversee the safe management of five of Sydney's busiest road assets for our client. My team of seven SHEQ professionals work across three tunnels and two open road motorways, including the Eastern Distributor, Cross City tunnel, Lane Cove tunnel, the M2 and the M5 Southwest motorways," says Bridie. 

^{Bridie Vico pictured with Ventia Group Executive SHEQ Christian Frost at the awards evening held in Darling Harbour, Sydney.} 
 

Relationships key to success

Bridie credits her business success to the relationships that she has formed over the years. 

"I value my working relationships and invest a lot in them," says Bridie.

As a Safety person, you cannot do your job well unless you create trust so people are comfortable raising concerns and you can address them. 

"I have a genuine care of people that I bring to work every day. I wouldn't be in this role if I didn't want to help people, and impact positively on their lives," says Bridie. 

"I am also privileged to be part of a wider team of 250 WHS professionals across Ventia, who provide a breadth of experience and expertise. The opportunity to tap into knowledge and ongoing learnings from across a range of sectors and industries means I am always constantly learning and growing," adds Bridie. 

^{Bridie credits her business success to the relationships that she has formed over the years. Pictured here with her colleagues from SHEQ, Transport and Corporate functions who were proud to celebrate her achievements.}
 

Beyond physical safety 

Business as usual for Bridie involves all elements of Workplace Health and Safety, but an important part of her role is ensuing the positive mental health of close to 130 people including technical, commercial and project managers supervisors and field teams, as well as a large pool of sub-contractors. 

"While it's essential to keep people out of harm's way, my role is about more than people's physical safety; it's about what I can do to improve their lives by making Ventia a great place to work and providing support for them to live well," says Bridie. 

After seeing the impact of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) work on my father over 15 years, I'm passionate about mental health and initiatives that take a holistic approach to wellbeing, beyond the workplace.

Always learning 

Bridie recently completed Ventia's flagship female leadership program, Women Leading where she enjoyed learning about her strengths and how to harness them. 

"One of my top strengths is restoration - fixing problems. In safety, we are constantly facing and solving new challenges. You need to calmly work out a fix. It's easier if you can enjoy that process like I do. I systematically work through whatever challenge is in front of me to reach a solution that works for both the client and Ventia."

"I am also a 'developer' and see potential in others, understanding that each person can bring many possibilities. I'm intrigued by people's unique qualities and think it's important to identify what they do well and give them an opportunity to apply that."

Eddie Djundja, Acting Contract Manager and Bridie's manager was thrilled to see her recognised at the awards. 

Bridie has changed the perception of health and safety within our group, fostering a no-blame culture where people are willing to participate and be open, trusting that issues raised will result in improvements to the way we work or our workplace. 

"Bridie is vocal about doing things the right way and consistently walks the talk. She has been instrumental in implementing improvements across our network

Well done Bridie! We're very fortunate to have your passion and dedication in the Ventia team. 

Hear more from Bridie and Eddie in our video below.