NORCO’S Raleigh milk production site has hosted two Southern Cross University (SCU) Occupational Therapy students in a ten-week work participation program.

In their fourth and final year of a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (OT), the two local students attending Norco Raleigh are Traevis Goode and Chloe Hoad.

This is the first time dairy manufacturer Norco has worked in this way with SCU, welcoming four of the uni’s occupational therapy students into their business; two at Raleigh and two at the Lismore site.

Advertise with News of The Area today.
It’s worth it for your business.
Message us.
Phone us – (02) 4981 8882.
Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au

Most OT students go to hospital or community settings.

The new Norco partnership is a novel opportunity to take their OT skills and knowledge and apply it in the corporate environment.

This area of OT is called occupational rehabilitation.

The students collaborated with the Norco team to develop workplace education, assessment and resources aimed at preventing workplace injuries and enhancing employee wellbeing.

The focus at Norco Raleigh was injury prevention.

Traevis and Chloe did this by observing workers performing their tasks (known as a task analysis) and considering ways to make it safer.

This may be with altered technique, the provision of aids/equipment or revised processes.

Norco’s General Manager for AgriSolutions, Adrian Reck, said the dairy co-operative aimed to create a workplace culture that prioritised injury prevention and fostered the wellbeing of employees to improve job performance and contribute to the overall success of the organisation.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with the Southern Cross University to offer passionate students a real-life experience into a typical, everyday work environment, whilst the business gains valuable and fresh insights into workplace safety,” said Mr Reck.

“At Norco, we have some of the highest standards in workplace safety, but we know there is always room for improvement, and by partnering with the Southern Cross University we can be confident that our policies and procedures are meeting best practice and remain relevant for our modern team.”

The students were thrilled with the placement opportunity at Norco.

The Norco Raleigh operation is a milk production site (bottling and packing) that employs 170 workers in diverse roles such as production, quality control, logistics, and administration.

Based here, Traevis and Chloe focussed on injury prevention.

Specifically, they considered preventative proactive measures to avoid and prevent workplace injury and hazards.

Importantly, much of this focussed on the cold room.

“Our primary responsibility was to conduct thorough task analyses, observations of the work processes, assessing potential risks associated with each worker’s tasks, and review relevant literature to gain insights into the identified risks and explore effective preventive measures,” said Traevis.

Traevis and Chloe compiled the information and their findings into a comprehensive report on injury-risk factors specifically related to the cold-room environment.

“This detailed report was then prepared with the intention of providing Raleigh Norco with valuable insights and recommendations regarding potential risks and preventive measures associated with working in the cool room,” Chloe said.

By Andrea Ferrari