Awards

Geelong Business Awards

2006   Best Small Business Award, Finalist Best Business Award

2007   Sustainable Business Award

2008   Sustainable Business Award

2008   Gordon Institute Small Business Award

2008   Victorian Training Award Small Business of the Year

2008   Finalist Australian Training Award Small Business of the Year

2009   Family Business of the Year, Finalist Best Business Award

2010   Sustainable Business Award

2010   Australian Training Award Business of the Year

Sweeney Todd’s award winning training
Tuesday, 2 September 2008

Geelong-based Sweeney Todd Medical Waste Disposal has won the Victorian State Training Award for Small Business, and is now in the running for the Prime Minister's national award. The family-owned and operated business specialises in clinical waste management, using the US-made STI Series 2000. The process is designed to mechanically shred medical waste and treat it through a stream-based thermal process, with material subjected to temperatures above 96 degrees for more than 60 minutes.

Operating in one of the highest risk sectors of the waste management community, in 2004 management invested in running staff through training with the Gordon Institute of TAFE, with OH&S aspects a major focus.

According to Gordon’s industry training coordinator Paul Sherry, a big part of the reason Sweeney Todd’s efforts have been judged as award winning is that it “looked at a whole of business approach,” running all 20 staff – from drivers through to managers – through various courses, including the nationally-recognised certificates III and IV in waste management.

Sweeney Todd’s founder Dr Hugh Parsons told Inside Waste Weekly the initial decision to invest in training was made to protect the $1 million investment in the STI machinery, and “it all just snowballed from there”.

He says it makes good business sense to keep up-skilling staff and improving operations. To accommodate this, the business is happy to make roster adjustments around training requirements, and has a dedicated room at its site to ensure all training happens at the facility, in company time.

“We look at [training] as an investment in our future – we want to stay out in front, and the only way we’re going to do that is to continue to gain knowledge…there’s no ego trip on this one, its basically to make our business better.”

“The morale is much better, [staff] are aware of what’s going on - how the machines work, how the safety features work and why the work – so they’re more confident doing the job and we’re more confident in the knowledge that they know what they’re doing.”