2025 DCN Awards Safety Winner Gavin Simpson discusses the team approach to safety culture and where he thinks Australian freight forwarders are at
THE YEAR 2025 was a big one for safety at global logistics firm JAS Worldwide’s Australian business.
Achieving certification in this area was only the starting point for the firm’s national HSEQ leader Gavin Simpson.
“The real success has been integrating safety into the way we do things at JAS Australia — where it is practical, visible, and owned by our people,” he said.
“Safety leadership doesn’t sit with one role — it sits with everyone.”
The global logistics giant’s Australian business took out top gong in the safety category at the Daily Cargo News Australian Shipping and Maritime Industry Awards held in November last year.
“This recognition validates the commitment, collaboration, and sustained effort that has gone into making safety part of our organisational DNA,” Mr Simpson said.
He added that the award was meaningful as it acknowledged the implementation of a new safety management system into the company’s everyday operations and culture.
JAS Australia managing director Jason Radford said the introduction of Ideagen set a global precedent within the entire firm.
“His leadership shifted the business from paper-based processes to a fully integrated, technology-enabled Safety Management System, now recognised as a potential global benchmark across JAS’s worldwide network,” Mr Radford said, acknowledging Mr Simpson’s nomination.
Since implementing the new safety system, the business has achieved more than a 400% increase in safety reporting.
“Having our new safety system in place has transformed reporting by making it quick, intuitive, and available to all workers on site — including contractors and casual staff,” Mr Simpson said.
“Importantly, it enables proactive hazard reporting, allowing us to identify and address risks before they result in injury or damage.
“This shift from reactive to preventative safety management has been a critical outcome.”
During the vendor selection process, the company assessed several platforms and eventually settled on Ideagen.“Rather than managing safety, quality and compliance across disconnected tools, the platform allows us to operate from a single, integrated system,” Mr Simpson said.
“We use it for far more than incident reporting.”
The new system houses the business’ local manuals and procedures, enables consistent safety communication, supports proactive risk management and ensures compliance with Chain of Responsibility CoR)obligations.
In particular, the Inform module has been “instrumental” in streamlining safety inspections, daily checks, pre-starts, and Chain of Responsibility (CoR) inspections.
“(It has made) compliance both accessible and actionable for our teams,” Mr Simpson said.
JAS Australia was the first location globally to implement this safety management system, and the success of the rollout has since supported expansion into other regions.
The Hong Kong business is now in the process of implementing the system.
“One of the key advantages of the system is accessibility,” Mr Simpson said.
“End users can interact with the system via mobile app, web browser, desktop application, or even existing warehouse scanners using QR codes.
“This flexibility removes barriers to participation and ensures safety processes integrate seamlessly into day-to-day operations rather than sitting alongside them.”
While work health and safety expectations and maturity can vary significantly by country and region, different markets placed different levels of emphasis on safety.
This is influenced by regulation, culture and historical practices.
“However, in reality, safety is universal. It should always be treated as the number one priority, regardless of geography,” Mr Simpson said.
While historically, many warehouse and operational practices have been learned informally, often based on “this is how it has always been done”, the freight forwarding industry is approaching safety with “a much more structured approach”.
“Safety culture across freight forwarding and logistics in Australia continues to evolve,” Mr Simpson said.
“Compared to highly regulated sectors such as aviation, safety has not always been embedded consistently from the outset, making cultural change one of the key challenges facing the industry as a whole.”
Processes included clear onboarding, defined learning pathways, and ensuring people understand not only what tasks they are performing, but how to do them safely and consistently.
“People have always wanted to do the right thing,” Mr Simpson said.
“What we are doing at JAS is very much in support of lifting standards across the industry.
“This is not just an internal change, but part of a broader cultural shift across the sector towards stronger governance, greater consistency, and a more proactive approach to safety.”
A major milestone for the company was launching the JAS Australia Just Culture Policy, where “honest reporting is encouraged and supported”.
“We recognise that human error happens — what matters is how we learn from it,” Mr Simpson said.
The focus of the policy is on root cause analysis, corrective action, and continuous improvement, rather than blame.
“While reckless or at-risk behaviour is not excused, the process is fair, transparent, and non-punitive,” Mr Simpson said.
“This has been a significant cultural shift and a foundation for trust.”
We recognise that human error happens — what matters is how we learn from it
Gavin Simpson
He added that in Australia, attitudes toward safety vary significantly across industries and regions.
“Sectors such as aviation and mining have long recognised that safety is non-negotiable. In other industries, there can still be a mindset that safety is ‘someone else’s job’,” Mr Simpson said.
“That is what needs to change. Safety is everyone’s responsibility.”
The company promoted the global value of community by ensuring its people understand responsibility not only to themselves, but to their colleagues, contractors, customers, and beyond.
Mr Simpson said the Safety Award was “a genuine surprise and an honour”.
“I’d like to thank DCN for hosting the awards, Boluda Towage for sponsoring the category, and the judges for the recognition,” he said.
“Congratulations also to the other nominees who continue to prioritise safety in their workplaces.
“At its core, the reason I do what I do — and the message I share in every safety interaction — is simple: we do this so everyone goes home safely to their family, in the same or better condition than when they arrived at work.
“That responsibility extends to our entire work family and to everyone who enters our workplaces. That belief underpins everything we do in safety.”
This article appeared in the February | March 2026 edition of DCN Magazine