Thanks, Woody, for sharing your real-life story and for giving us a glimpse into not only the challenges you’ve faced and still face, your story was packed with valuable lessons including how the choices you make can not only change your life but the lives of the people around you. I also thought it was great that you shared your safety messages beyond the workplace by attending schools emphasising the importance of being a safety leader, setting the right example, showing commitment to safety standards and encouraging others to get on board.

Woody was great. Provided his story on how one decision changed his life and people around him. Impactful and real.

James is one of the best safety speakers I’ve ever seen; you can relate to him when he talks about this life. I highly suggest James for any safety discussion with your employees.

I believe James did a great job sharing his story with our group and I can’t imagine it to be easy to relive this moment over and over again in order to spread the word of how important it is to make the ‘right’ choices. Well done to him! I do believe his story has resonated with each individual in some way and how they can do better than the day before. I feel like when it comes to me making a choice, I now have a little ‘James Birdie’ in my head reminding me of his story. Thanks for your time and effort.

We invited James Wood to speak to our employees as part of Disability Pride Month. James’ natural and relaxed speaking style kept the large audience engaged and asking a lot of questions. James spoke of the importance of safety in the workplace and his journey of perseverance and resilience in the face of adversity.

We had the privilege of hosting James Wood (Woody) as a guest speaker at Wilson Homes, and his presentation left a lasting impact on all of us. Woody shared his powerful story about a workplace incident that left him in a wheelchair, and his resilience and positivity in the face of adversity was truly inspiring. His message of overcoming challenges and finding strength in difficult times resonated with everyone in the room. Our workplace had a positive reaction to his presentation, and we are grateful for the opportunity to hear his story. Thank you, Woody, for sharing your journey with us.

I have been in the resource sector for 30 years. James‘ honest and personal message makes you sit up and take notice because his perspective is personal and focuses on the far-reaching consequences of a serious accident, not only the processes, facts and figures of avoiding them.

I think James is one of the better speakers in the business. I have seen him a couple of times, seen other CNB speakers and get a great deal of value out of their sessions. Now I am in a position to get them to site I will do.

Woody was a consummate professional but one of his super powers is his relatability….whilst he was speaking I looked around the room of 180-200 leaders and every single attendee I saw was leaning in, listening avidly; completely captivated……for day 2 of a Summit straight after lunch, this is a huge achievement and speaks completely to James’ engaging nature and story/presentation……his impact was exactly what I had envisaged as the keynote speaker to round out a marvellous 2 days.

Woody attended our site to share his story with the maintenance teams. Woody was an absolutely amazing speaker and his delivery was perfect and impactful in terms of relatability for our teams. Thank you so much Woody for your time to come to our site!

Woody is an excellent speaker, he shares his story in such a powerful way that you feel present and can visualise the incident as it happens. Woody presents powerful and relevant aspects that impact him and his life as well as those around him. Participants were brought to tears from the emotion shared in the story.

James Wood is a great speaker, hitting the messages each and every time. He has the ability to relate to the audience – third time we have had him speak and we will certainly have him back again! Thank you James.

Woody presented his story in a way relatable to all, his message was clear. His story was very heartfelt and we all took a lot out of Woody sharing his story.

James Wood is a beacon of authenticity. His raw and nothing-off-limits approach is refreshing allowing you to connect with his journey truly.

I think James’ story is very relevant to all especially on RUOK day. He gave us the opportunity to take a step back and look around at all the things that are important to us and not take it for granted.

James Wood recently presented at our QLD office and live streamed to our other offices.
This presentation was powerful and moving for all attendees.

James Wood’s presentation was very raw, real and heart felt. If seeing the results of James’ “Choices” can’t change the way one thinks, I’m not sure what could. James was very professional yet down to earth.

Very engaging presentation, humble, open, and honest. Resonating heavily with our team to ensure they make the right safe choices in all aspects of their lives leaving a lasting impression with everyone.

James ‘Woody’ Wood attended our Annual Conference to kick the day off. His audience were safety consultants and safety software specialists. Woody was able to make a strong connection between what our people do on a day to day basis and how we can help prevent what happened to him and others.

I personally thought it was a fantastic opportunity to communicate with our workforce and management on the site and a great outcome.

The feedback I have received from different people has been extremely positive.

I have no doubt we will cross paths again as your ability to communicate your experiences is unique and clearly valuable to any workforce.

James speaks to the group not as a safety person, or a manager, but as a normal man who made one quick choice that led to a life changing incident. The message really hits home for those working in a blue collar environment and he provides in great detail the effect it has had not only on his life, but on the lives of those around him also.

Woody was engaging, easy to listen to and friendly. He was able to build a rapport with staff within a short time, through his manner and his story which will remain with us for a long time.

James is an incredible person. To have such an accident and then get up every day and repeat it to people just so he can spread his message, is incredible.
Our guys were grateful and Management were very impressed.

I first saw James deliver his presentation at the 2022 IQA Safety Seminar and I found this to be a very powerful story.
I have a mixture of new and long term employees on my site and I believe that they would have been able to relate to James and his presentation would make them STOP and make a good choices on the activity they are undertaking and not take short cuts.
The way James emphasised following procedure could have made a difference to his life really hit home with my crew.
Thank you James for sharing with us.

The real essence of what safety is all about is sometimes lost on many workers, as there are times when they tend to think that it’s just another paper to sign or procedure to follow. But seeing James in his wheelchair is a sobering reminder of what safety is really about and that it is keeping everyone safe so that they go home in one piece.

James was honestly engaging, and so true and honest to his audience. James tells a story that everyone should hear – he’s right, it’s all about the choices you make.

James ‘Woody” Wood chaired his Choices message with our various teams for our furlong campaign. His past experience and the story he shared of his incident has always touched me personally as I have seen some of my co-workers be involved in incidents which could have left them with significant injuries. Woody is able to talk frankly with team members at all levels and deliver a message that our choices doesn’t just affect ourselves but also those around us, our co-workers, family and friends. Thank you Woody for once again helping to reinvigorate my passion for safety and helping those around me stay safe.

James is a typical Aussie bloke. He has a unique ability to share his story in a way that engages a room full of production and maintenance workers who start the session with their arms crossed and end the session leaning in, hanging on James‘ every word. James‘ story is open and honest and shared in a way that helps you understand the real impact of one choice.

His story touched us in so many ways. What a great example of courage and resilience. As I said, “sometimes we just take things for granted”, and that makes us sometimes not make the right choices, so I will try to be more grateful for the things I already have and enjoy the small things, as he says.
I think I speak for everyone in the team when I say thank you. We are more conscious about Safety after his words, and I am more than sure we will think twice before making our choices.
I hope James continues sharing his life experience with more people because he is changing lives.

A big thank you to James Wood and his team for organising this presentation for our project toolbox. Woody’s story was very raw, real and touching which left a big impression on others and brought a different perspective of safety to the team. We look forward to working with your team in future to bring on board more speakers.

Our organisation is undergoing a cultural change towards Safety in the workplace, we want our people to understand that Safety means more then reporting numbers and we are committed to bringing people home from work safely to their families. James message was able to resonate with our staff and leave a lasting impression of the real people behind injuries in the workplace.

James brought his personal experience to his talk which was relevant to all staff throughout our business. James spoke in a way that allowed our staff to relate back to the choices they make everyday and the impact not only personally but to all those we have contact with throughout our life.

Thankyou James for helping our team continue our journey to a safer place to work.

This is the second time I have engaged James to present his story around ‘Choices’. Once again, and looking around the room during the presentation, everyone was engaged from start to finish. For those looking for an alternative to the traditional safety communication methods, I would highly recommend James and anyone else from his team from CNB Safe.

James has a very relatable, real life example about choices. James’s story had our whole team engaged, with the team getting a lot out of the presentation. They will take the key points out of this as a reminder of what they can do to protect themselves and others in both work life and personal life situations.

Thankyou James for sharing your story.

The presentation on choices was spot on. Our workers hear HSEQ, and the leadership group talk about safety and its importance often; however, Woody provided a different perspective. He’s been in a similar role to our workers, and for him to stand up and speak so honestly and say, “slow down, take five and think about the consequences your choices can have on you and your loved one”, had a significant impact on our group and was precisely what we were looking for in a speaker.

James presentation was extremely engaging. You could have heard a pin drop at both! James was extremely brave being so open and honest about his accident and the impacts of his injury on himself, and others.

James is to be congratulated for sharing this story with people in the hope of encouraging a more aware approach to personal safety. This presentation has had a profound effect on our workforce and is undoubtedly the most impactful safety presentation I have ever been involved in.

James’ story is relevant and real to the workforce. The simplicity of the incident which resulted in a lifetime of personal impact has immediate affect with the workers who are not naturally entertained by management presentations and documentation.

James’ talk was frank and honest. Hearing him speak about relationships and how to ‘re-learn’ some aspects of his life was impactful and emotional.

Yes, it was harsh reality and hard hitting toolbox talk. Very visual and emotional on how it affects not just James but also his loved ones – people could relate to it and it hit the message home.

We invited James to our organisation to share his story and to highlight the importance of the choices we make on a day to day basis. James was an incredibly powerful speaker and his message certainly resonated with our team.

James’ story is a powerful one and puts into perspective how making wrong choices at work can result in devastation. No one is infallible and safety in workplace or at home, must be front of mind.
The response from staff was extremely positive and his message is something that they can take away and refer to in times when they too are faced with their own choices in life!

James’ presentation made such an impact on our workforce. He was very honest and open about his story, the choices he made, how it affected his life and his family. Everyone took something away from it.

James is an excellent speaker, his message is simple, clear and powerful. He spoke to all our workers and the message is as relevant for our field staff as it is for our office workers. Thank you James.

This was the most impacting, relevant presentation I have seen since working with council. James covered physical and emotional impacts of his injuries both from a personal level and from friends and family as well. James focused on the importance of self accountability and self responsibility and how in his case it was was ultimately his choices that have put him in the position he is in. James promoted looking out for others and that it is everyone’s responsibility to work safely. I was also impressed with how James answered the questions and the perspective he provided.

We really enjoyed James coming and speaking to our Senior Leaders. The messages he shared, have helped myself and our Senior Leaders identify opportunities for us to set the business and our people up to prevent serious injuries to our people. Thank you James!

James message was simple and very effective. The way James delivered our key message, decisions and consequences, not only captivated our audience for the entire presentation (not an easy feat) but resonated with them (they are still talking about it a week later).

As an added bonus, one of our core values is resilience and James’ strength in the face of adversity and his resilience is truly inspirational.

Thank you James, an excellent presentation.

James honesty and openness about something so personal certainly impacted me to take a moment to assess tasks I do everyday. (drive a car) I have already made better decisions to give me the best chance to avoid incident.

The personal story of James was very powerful. Lots of different aspects covered of how a workplace accident can affect not only your employment but also your personal circumstances, hobbies, friendships and mental health. This made safety decisions and behaviour really personal in a way that the usual safety conversations often miss. it was very “real”.

I would highly recommend this Safety information session to everyone, as James delivers a very poignant message in a casual, easy conversation which then has everybody who attends, thinking about the ramifications of an accident of this nature on their own lives. If the result is that just one person takes a bit more care as they go about their day to day then this session was totally worth the time.
Thanks James for your honesty, humour and willingness to share your experience with us all.

Call him James, call him Woody I think we will call him ‘down to earth,’ because that’s the way his message was delivered, in a way that all who were present could understand and relate too. If James gets his message through to one person then he has achieved something, we believe his message resonated to all 300 who were present at his visit.

Woody’s story makes everyone understand that the choices they make may have an impact on their safety while at work. If you are changing safety culture then his story might make the difference at your workplace from the executive level to the workshop floor.
His story can be delivered to managers and workers and they will all benefit from Woody’s message.

James (Woody’s) presentation to our workforce was exceptional, delivered in a sincere, heartfelt, clear and precise manner as to the choices we all make on a daily basis, which may result in a life changing experience, not just to ourselves, but to family and friends. As a safety professional of some 25 years, I would not hesitate to recommend both James and/or his fellow speakers in addressing your workforce as too raising awareness of the consequence’s of making the wrong choices and excepting at ‘risk behaviour’. Both James and his fellow speakers should be commended for sharing their experiences, with the view of preventing other’s and their families having to go through their life’s experience.

James, is an AMAZING HUMAN BEING to talk about what happened to him and relive this trauma is not an easy task. I can only recommend this form of communication to any organisation as it applies to anything in life. The examples the feelings the raw emotion and the guilt and subsequent consequences of the accident are so real because the end result is talking to you and is before you. I felt privileged to listen to him and what he was trying to get across in the short time that he had. I absolutely applaud my organisation for recognising the need and finding someone like James. I can not thank this man enough and felt absolutely guilty that when I was driving out I looked over and he was folding up his wheel chair….. Need I say more

In any presentation delivered to our associates I have never seen a large number line up and shake the presenters hand and thank them for delivering the presentation. During the past week there have been many informal conversations on site about James presentation and associates approaching me to say how much they appreciated the presentation.

James was such a pleasure to present alongside, his story allowed our teams to connect with safety in a complete different format, the visual and heart felt message is such a powerful way to share the true reflection of a work place injury, and this is what safety is all about.

James ability to engage with the workforce is seriously the key to the power of a message.

And he’s not such a bad Aussie.

I would work alongside this great man any day. Kia Kaha James !

It’s not the first time I’ve has Woody to one of my sites and it definitely won’t be the last – his story is powerful and inspirational at the same time. We had grown men with tears in their eyes, and if it stops one person from making the wrong choice – by just simply stopping and thinking “how can I do this safely in order to walk out that gate tonight, then its worth it.

James was very personable, engaging and told his story with such emotion. We all enjoyed listening to his story and would love to be able to get him to our sites in the future to speak to the guys on site directly to drive home his message of choices and taking a moment to think about your safety and encouraging others to be safe.

We have had James visit in the past and were very excited to have him back on site. James’ story fits very well with our behavioural safety focus and importance of individual choices in personal safety.

There were some workers who thought they would get the same message, however they really enjoyed hearing this updated version which included our message.

Overall this was a wonderful series of sessions, with excellent communication from James and his team, making a positive, meaningful impact on many of our workers.

This is the second time I have utilised James Wood to speak at a Safety Day and he has not let us down, with his emotive talks indicating the choices he had and what the choices each and every one of the audience will have in the future and who may be affected. Highly skilled and pulled at the heart-strings of the audience.

Thank you James for speaking at our recent Safety Summit, our day was all about “Who are you Safe for?” Your Choices talk hit all the right notes and you had our attendees captivated. They appreciated your “Down to Earth” nature and your candour in speaking about your very personal experience.

I highly recommend engaging James Wood to help improve your businesses safety performance and culture. James sends a clear safety message that your ‘choices’ will keep you safe at work and to take the time to understand your risks before starting a job. He personalises his message by sharing his story after a mining safety accident that is well accepted by the workforce. The safety discussions facilitated by these presentations has been excellent for our business and feedback from the workforce has been overwhelmingly positive.

James was able to get through to everyone from the shop floor to management with his story. James’ at times brutal honesty was a wakeup call to show our people why all this ‘safety stuff’ is important and how 1 wrong choice can impact your life forever. James’ talk is thought provoking and engaging and at times uncomfortable, but the message is clear and has continued across conversations on site after James left.

We were thrilled to welcome James Wood to our staff forum this year. James is a strong promoter of taking personal responsibility for safety and shares the impact on his own life of skipping safety precautions. The presentation was down to earth and relatable to people at all levels of the business. It was wonderful sharing some laughs along with the important messages. I highly recommend James to anyone looking for a presentation with impact that will last long after the event.

James Wood spoke to 90 of our outdoor operations staff about his story. He spoke about the choices he made on the day of his accident and the fact that he pays for those choices every day. His message got through to our people and you could have heard a pin drop when he was speaking. I thank him for having the courage to share his story.

Woody set the scene for the remainder of our program with his choices presentation. A dinkum yarn with a powerful yet simple message. Our event participants kept referring to Choices throughout the day. I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Woody as a presenter or keynote speaker to anyone wanting to impress upon their people the importance of stopping and making the right choices before undertaking work tasks.

James was a fantastic speaker and delivered a strong message to our guests. He presented on his real-life situation and made the guests think about how the choices you make can affect the rest of your life and those around you. It was a very powerful message and was highly commended by our guests. Would recommended James and his team. James is very engaging and takes the opportunity to deliver his presentation as an effective story teller rather than a formal.

I couldn’t recommend James highly enough. Miners can be hard to reach but with James telling his story in his easy going manner the workforce was able to relate really easily and the simple yet strong message was able to get through.

Big thanks to both James and Vanessa for helping us out. Keep up the good work guys. We may never be able to prove it but you guys are saving lives in an industry that takes too many fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers from their families.

Downer EDI Works Hume depot had James Wood attend a toolbox ending training week.
The message that James shared was very well presented in a layback style… however very powerful message.
James was not afraid to tackle issues and was willing to answer “ANY” questions put to him.
James was able to share how a decision he made that day changed his whole life, and the lives of others close to him, his workmates and how the effects of such a situation is life changing
I highly recommend James to share his story with your team.

James Wood visited the city of Darwin to run 2 sessions in regards to the choices he made. He was absolutely amazing and engaged everyone within our workforce. Most of the staff stayed back to shake James hand and have a chat.

I found CNB Safe very professional with the service that they offer. The website is very informative and has some great resources. James is very down to earth sort of guy, which everyone can relate to. I commend him on his courage and emotional strength to repetitively share his story. James conducted 2 sessions per day, 5 days with a total of 10 sessions. His commitment to sharing his story and delivering a strong message of ‘Choices’ for many years is very much inspiring.

It was great that someone has taken the time out of there life to come to a small mining community, to share their story, their outcomes, low points and lifestyle changes to a group of young Apprentices.
I am sure each one have taken something positive away from James’s Story.

James Wood has a way of sharing a deeply personal story in a way that appeals to anyone he speaks to. He is charismatic and genuine and you get a real sense that he is sharing his story for one outcome – a safer workplace for all. By speaking about CHOICES and the effects an injury has on all facets of life, James reached everyone that was present when he spoke. The James Wood Whirlwind World Tour of STA was a massive logistical undertaking to maximise impact, and James’ ability to deliver 14 Toolbox Talks over 5 days at 8 different locations was an inspiring effort. Thanks to James and Vanessa for making this happen.

Woody’s courage to relive & retell his challenging journey and darkest moments in life, to hopefully help others make the right choice when it counts is a true testament to his character.
He was authentic and engaging, which was evident by the body language of the audience, if they leant in a mm closer in their seat they would have fallen flat on their face. Thanks for sharing Woody

I myself being a victim of a workplace accident, I felt very sorry for James and of course the whole lot of people who have been injured in a safety related incident/accident. I felt a tear drop in the corner of my eye when he was talking about the difficulty when he needs to use the restrooms. Very pathetic and tearful.