The South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA) has crowned the winners of its two annual excellence awards programs, the Environmental Excellence Awards and the Work Health and Safety Awards.
Winners were announced on Thursday 14 September at SAWIA’s inaugural SA Wine Industry Dinner, held at the National Wine Centre.
At the 2023 Environmental Excellence Awards, Orbis Wines, Pernod Ricard Winemakers and Eden Hall Wines were presented awards across three categories, acknowledging their significant contributions to environmental management.
Orbis Wines, winner of the Small-Medium Winery category, was celebrated for its work on sustainability and circularity across the entire value chain, including a completely off-grid winery and its use of an electric vehicle powered by the winery’s solar panels for local deliveries.
In the Large Winery category, Pernod Ricard Winemakers was awarded for its sustainability framework and roadmap, a pathway that is designed to meet its targets for 100 per cent recyclable, compostable or reusable packaging by 2025.
Finally, Eden Hall Wines was recognised in the Viticulture category for enhancing vineyard biodiversity through the creation of resilient landscapes, including native vegetation preservation, planting of native grasses and plants, composting and mulching.
Inca Lee, Chief Executive of SAWIA, commented on the achievements of the three wine businesses.
“These intiativies are examples of the wine industry’s environmental stewardship. All entrants have undertaken significant efforts towards environmental sustainability, with impacts reaching far beyond the company gate. This includes advances in water conservation, renewable energy, emissions reduction, wine packaging and biodiversity conservation.
“By sharing success stories in environmental management and recognising outstanding achievements, we can collectively inspire and drive progress.”
In the 2023 Work Health and Safety Excellence Awards, SAWIA recognised Australian Vintage Limited and Jordan Roesler from Treasury Wine Estates as South Australian wine businesses and individuals who demonstrate meaningful and substantial improvements to the fundamentals of work health and safety.
In the Wine Business Safety Champion category, Australian Vintage Limited was awarded for its Thinksafe Leadership Program, designed to build capability and empower staff to be leaders in safety resulting in a 40 per cent reduction in total injuries recorded across the company.
Roesler was awarded in the Individual Safety Champion category, recognising his critical role in health and safety and as a role model to other employees. SAWIA praised Roesler for demonstrating leadership in winery safety culture and contributing to safer outcomes, including leading the site changeover from old to new gas monitoring units used in confined space entry and emergency response.
“These initiatives are examples of the South Australian wine industry’s excellent record in worker health and safety,” says Lee.
“We created these rewards as we believe that businesses and individuals who manage risks effectively and strive to achieve a positive workplace safety culture should be celebrated. The awards program also helps us to identify safety issues facing the Australian wine industry and community, so that we can find and share practical solutions to those issues.”