Health, safety and wellness events

Workplace health and safety is the responsibility of every UQ worker.

Throughout the year, we offer health, safety, and wellness events to help you brush up on your skills, learn new ways to keep your work environment safe and take charge of your personal well-being.

February

15 minute exercise challenge

Start your year off right with the 6-week 15 Minute Exercise Challenge. This team challenge helps you make movement a part of your daily routine – no matter your fitness level – and connect with your colleagues.

Registrations close Monday 23 February (end of week one of the challenge), so get your team of 4-8 together and sign up before the challenge starts on Monday 16 February.

Learn more and register>>

March

Webinars

Financial wellbeing for women
This webinar is designed to empower women with practical strategies to achieve financial security and independence.
Hosted by: Commbank
Date: Wednesday 4 March
Time: 2:00-2:30pm (AEST)
Register now>>

Caring for your mental health
This webcast is designed to help you recognise what your mind and body need before stress becomes overwhelming.
Hosted by: UniSuper (in partnership with MetLife Australia)
Date: Thursday 5 March
Time: 11:30am-12:30pm (AEST)

Balancing the load: Wellbeing, equality and thriving together
This webinar will spark practical conversations and equip you with strategies to recognise the “mental load” and how it affects stress and wellbeing, share responsibilities more evenly at home and in relationships, build healthier routines that support balance and reduce burnout and support one another — regardless of gender — in creating a more equal share of life’s load.
Hosted by: Altius Group
Date: Thursday 12 March
Time: 1:00-2:00pm (AEST)
Register now>>

April

2026 HSW Safety Seminar Series: Biosafety Update

The first update from Biosafety for 2026. Look at the potential changes to the Gene Technology Act.

Session Title: Biosafety Update
Date: Wednesday 15 April
Time: 10.30am-11:30am
Location: Zoom
Speaker: Kerrin Henderson, Senior Manager (Biological Safety), Health, Safety and Wellness Division.
Recommended for: Safety Managers/WHSCs, HSW Division, HSW Committee Members, HSW CSS Committee, HSRs (Health and Safety Representatives), HSW Controlled entities.

May

2026 HSW Safety Seminar Series: Workers' Compensation

Qld’s Workers Compensation Scheme – What It Is and How It Works.

Session Title: Workers' Compensation
Date: Tuesday, 12 May
Time: 10.00am-11:00am
Location: Zoom
Speaker: Kate Thurbon, Senior Manager (Work Injury Management), Health, Safety and Wellness Division.
Recommended for: Safety Managers/WHSCs, HSW Division, HSW Committee Members, HSW CSS Committee, HSRs (Health and Safety Representatives), HSW Controlled entities.

Past webinar recordings

Love your heart: Move, nourish and unwind for a healthier heart
Hosted by: Fitness Passport
Watch recording>>

Energise Your Life: The Dynamic Duo of Sleep and Exercise
Hosted by: Altius Group
Watch recording>> available until May 8, 2026 (you will need to request permission using your UQ email address)

Embracing Positive Wellbeing: Fundamentals of Positive Psychology
Hosted by: Altius Group
Watch recording>> available until March 5, 2026 (you will need to request permission using your UQ email address)

Find Your Rhythm: The connection between sleep, exercise and wellbeing
Hosted by: Fitness Passport
Watch recording>>

Fuel your goals with optimal nutrition and Fitness Passport
Hosted by: Fitness Passport
Watch recording>>

Mental Fitness & Stress Reduction
Hosted by: Fitness Passport
Watch recording>>

Rest and Recovery - Rise to Reset
Hosted by: Fitness Passport
Watch recording>>

Safe Work Month 2025 recordings

State of Indoor Air in Australia
31 October 2025
Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska, Queensland University of Technology, will examine the state of indoor air quality in Australian buildings, the pollutants of concern, and the challenges posed by climate change. The session will explore how building design, technology, and regulation can balance clean air, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency for healthier workplaces.
Watch recording>>

Behind the Scenes with SafeZone: Real-Time Assistance and Campus Safety
28 October 2025
This session provides an insider’s look at how the SafeZone Command platform operates, showcasing real-time incident management, communication tools, and coordination processes that keep campuses safe. Garry Tyler and Yin Tint, UQ Campus Security, will provide insight into the workflows, decision-making, and technology that underpin effective safety operations.
Watch recording>>

UQ Biosafety Update
24 October 2025
This session will provide key updates on biosafety and biosecurity at UQ, including upcoming changes to OGTR PC2 and DAFF BC2 guidelines, updates to biosafety forms and checklists, and insights from recent facility inspections.
Watch recording>>

Enhancing Psychosocial Safety Consultation
22 October 2025
Mark Oostergo, Australian Psychological Society, will unpack how good work positively impacts people, delve into the complex interaction of psychosocial hazards using organisational change as a case study, and highlight what effective controls really look like. Come along to this session to learn what good consultation looks like, and how meaningful consultation can help us better understand and manage psychosocial risks.
Watch recording>>

Critical Risks
16 October 2025
Managing critical risks is central to workplace safety. With extensive experience across sectors including retail, logistics, and higher education, Belinda Kelly will discuss the importance of governance, systems, and leadership in controlling high-consequence risks. This session will provide practical insights into strengthening organisational safety systems and embedding effective risk management.
Watch recording>>

Employee Wellbeing Starts with Work Design: Minimising Psychosocial Risks Through SMART Work Design Principles
14 October 2025
Dr Caroline Knight will introduce the SMART Work Design Model—Stimulating, Mastery-oriented, Autonomous, Relational, with Tolerable demands—and demonstrate how these principles can minimise psychosocial risks. This session offers practical strategies for staff and leaders to enhance wellbeing through better work design.
Watch recording>>

Invisible Risks, Collective Solutions: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Occupational Health
1 October 2025
Dr Nikky LaBranche, UQ’s Sustainable Minerals Institute, will share how cross-disciplinary approaches are helping us better detect hazards, develop safer practices, and shift how we think about worker health. This session explores how collaborative, cross-disciplinary research is helping us detect unseen hazards, inform safer practices, and ultimately shift the way we think about worker health and prevention.
Watch recording>>