The Dr. Eric Wigglesworth AM OHS Education Medal is a national
award made by the Safety Institute of Australia Ltd recognising achievement in
OHS education in the Doctor of Philosophy or professional doctorate category.
In naming this award after Dr Eric Wigglesworth AM the Safety Institute of
Australia Inc recognised the contribution made by Dr Wigglesworth to OHS
education in Australia and to the Institute.
Dr Eric Wigglesworth AM, an Honorary Fellow of the Safety Institute of
Australia Inc and a long-term very proud member of the Menzies Foundation,
sadly passed away in March 2009 after a long battle with cancer.
Dr Wigglesworth came to Australia in 1962 to join the Australian Defence
Scientific Service as a Safety Officer in Melbourne. He later became the
Director of the Injury Research Project located in the Royal Australasian
College of Surgeons. He was the Executive Director of the Menzies Foundation
from its inception in 1979 to his retirement in 1998.
Eric Wigglesworth was at the forefront of OHS education in Australia since
1963 when he was a member of the inaugural Education Sub Committee of the
Safety Engineering Society (later the Safety Institute of Australia Ltd). Eric
later chaired the Education Sub Committee from 1977 to 1983. During this period
the Education Sub Committee was the major voice in identifying the need for
formal education for safety practitioners and promoting the ‘science of
safety'.
The Sub Committee members drafted the content and carried out the teaching
for the initial Certificate course set up at the South Melbourne Technical
School in 1968. This was the first OHS specific course developed under the
auspices of a state education department and served as a model for other
states.
Eric wrote many papers and was very vocal in promoting the case for
tertiary-level education in occupational health and safety. In 1976 the
Victorian Industrial Safety Convention, a joint activity of the Education
Committee of the Safety Engineering Society and the Victorian Department of
Labour, resulted in a consensus statement endorsed by the then Victorian
Minister for Labour determined that ‘...whilst there should be
...appropriate initial courses in industrial safety, there should be far more
specialised courses at certificate, diploma, degree, post graduate diploma, and
higher degree level for persons who wish to develop expertise in this area.'
Joint government and Safety Engineering Society working groups (under the
leadership of Eric) were set up to further the decisions of the conference.
Eric, through his work on the Education Committee was instrumental in
establishing the Graduate Diploma in Occupational Hazard Management in 1980 at the
then Ballarat College of Advanced Education (now University of Ballarat). This
course was the first tertiary level OHS qualification in Australia.
In 1983 Eric combined his roles of Chair of the SIA Education Committee and
Executive Officer of the Menzies Foundation to convene a scientific and
government workshop to examine the issues of a common curriculum for OHS
education in Australia. This workshop resulted in a number of resolutions that
guided OHS education in Australia for many years.
Eric lectured in the Graduate Diploma course at Ballarat from its inception
until his retirement in 1998. During this period Eric wrote many learned
articles and introduced student practitioners to the energy-damage concepts. He
challenged the students to go forth and ‘tame the tigers'. Eric considers that
his life's work is reflected in the title of his doctorial thesis ‘Towards the
Applied Science of Injury Control'. Although the scientific approach is widely
accepted today, it was certainly not the conventional wisdom when his career
began.
Eric was an Honorary Fellow of the Safety Institute of Australia and an
Honorary Fellow of the UK Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Even in
retirement he continued to write articles for journals promoting the need for
research to enhance the knowledge base for the science of safety.
Dr Wigglesworth held the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Diploma of
Education (University of Leeds), Master of Science and Doctor of Applied
Science (University of Melbourne) and the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine
(University of Tasmania). He edited 5 books and published more than 120
scientific papers in refereed journals. In the Australia Day 2000 Honours list,
he was appointed a Member in the Order of Australia for services to public
health and to accident prevention. He was also an Honorary Senior Research
Fellow at Monash University Accident Research Centre.
The Safety Institute of Australia was honoured that Eric agreed for this
award to be made in his name.
Past winners of the Eric Wigglesworth OHS Education Medal
can be found here.
