In 2006, a small group of construction managers in the ACT came together with a shared concern: safety in the construction industry. These weren’t policymakers or regulators—they were people on the ground, managing sites, teams, and risks every day. They saw the need for a space where safety could be discussed not as a box to tick, but as a culture to build. And so, the ACT Construction Industry Safety Reference Group (ACISRG) was born.
The group’s mission is simple but powerful: to provide an independent forum where peers can share knowledge, learn from each other, and improve the safety culture across the ACT’s construction and civil sectors. It’s a space for honest dialogue, where lessons learned become lessons shared.
ACISRG has contributed to major industry initiatives, from the Getting Home Safely Report by RMIT, to the development of consistent Safe Work Method Statements and a unified Drug and Alcohol Policy for the ACT. The group has worked closely with the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner (OFSC) to review scheme criteria, and with the ACT Safety Regulator to improve access to industry-wide safety data.
They’ve helped shape Codes of Practice for tower cranes, formwork, heat stress, and precast elements. One of their most notable contributions was identifying the risks associated with the compulsory use of water in the WHS Regulation 2011, which led to the development of the Silica Code of Practice—including the template risk assessment now widely used across the industry.
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