AKD Softwoods and Collins Foods have each won the Vero RM Advancer award for excellence in workers’ compensation and liability risk management.

Now in their 14th year, the awards recognise remarkable risk management achievements in various categories. A presentation event was held in Sydney last night.

Timber processing company AKD won in the manufacturing and logistics area, while Collins Foods – the owner of such brands as KFC, Taco Bell and Sizzler – was recognised in the goods and service providers area.

The commercial category was awarded to ASX-listed rail freight operator Aurizon, while Rapid Plas – a family-owned manufacturer of rainwater tanks and animal care products such as feed troughs – took the SME prize.

The winning companies each received 200,000 Virgin Airlines Velocity points.

Darren O’Connell, Executive GM at Suncorp Group, says the diverse spread of industries involved in this year’s awards “demonstrates the importance of risk management for Australian companies”.

Rapid Plas deployed safety training and development, Aurizon was recognised for its risk management strategy to reduce derailments, and Collins Foods for implementing a safety campaign to reduce lost-time injury frequency and claims costs. AKD Softwoods – which also won the award in 2015 – was recognised this time for establishing a process to actively manage claims as well as for engaging an onsite physiotherapist.

“We were particularly impressed by the number of entries in the workers’ compensation and liability category,” Mr O’Connell said. “Workers’ compensation is often one of the biggest insurance costs, so risk management is vital.”