SafeChemEdu was developed from decades of practical experience across heavy industry, government, environmental management, workplace health and safety, auditing, and major project operations. Its purpose is straightforward: to support chemical management training that works in real workplaces, not just on paper.
Professional Background
Ralph Gunness has worked across mining, petroleum, heavy industry, government, and environmental management for many years, helping organisations build, review, and strengthen systems designed to support safer operations, clearer compliance, and practical workplace implementation.
His experience includes environmental and chemical management systems, workplace health and safety, auditing, compliance, and operational support across complex and high-risk projects. That background has shaped a practical approach focused on systems that can be applied, maintained, and improved in everyday operations.
Why SafeChemEdu Was Created
SafeChemEdu was created to help bridge the gap between chemical knowledge and workplace application. Many training programs explain hazards, labels, and duties, but fewer show people how to build and maintain systems that support real chemical management in practice.
The SafeChemEdu framework was developed to provide a more usable and implementation-focused pathway, supported by structured learning, practical tools, reference materials, and workplace-ready resources. The aim is to help learners and organisations move from awareness to practical control.
Experience and Recognition
Over the course of his career, Ralph has worked across major projects and operational settings where chemical, environmental, and compliance systems needed to perform in the real world.
- Registered and accredited environmental auditor in Australia and the United Kingdom
- Experience across major industrial, environmental, and government projects
- United Nations Award for Environmental Management
- Finalist, Australian Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year
- Finalist, Banksia Water and Environmental Innovation Awards
- Longstanding author and trainer of environmental and technical learning materials, e.g., 25 years as an Edumine and previously as an Infomine author.
Training and Author Background
Alongside project and operational work, Ralph has spent many years developing and delivering technical training content for industry audiences. This has included long-term authorship and delivery of environmental and engineering learning materials designed to support practical capability development.
Ralph is an auditor, educator and author registered in the UK and Australia, with more than 45 years of experience in chemical safety, environmental management and workplace health and safety capability building. His qualifications span science, environmental studies, agricultural science, education and business, supported by specialist certifications in WHS, mining and oilfield safety, training, risk assessment and emergency response.
Over his career, he has led environmental and chemical management systems on major projects valued at up to A$34 billion across mining, petroleum, heavy industry, government and research, including CSIRO. Ralph has also been a long-standing author and course developer with Edumine (formerly InfoMine/Edumine) for more than 25 years, translating complex technical and compliance topics into practical industry training. He was a finalist in the Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year (2007), presented with Banksia awards for Innovative Water Management and received the U.N. Award for “Greening the Boardroom”, presented jointly to the author and a major natural gas company by the then Governor-General of Queensland. Through SafeChemEdu, he helps individuals, teams and organisations build practical systems, stronger evidence, and safer workplaces through clear guidance, tools and training.
That same focus underpins SafeChemEdu and the book, “Managing Chemicals in the Workplace”, 1st edition, which serves as a cornerstone reference for the broader training framework, companion resources, and implementation-focused learning pathway.
A Practical Focus
The focus behind SafeChemEdu is practical implementation. The aim is not simply to explain chemical management, but to help people apply it through clearer systems, better documentation, stronger workplace practices, and tools that support real-world use.
This practical focus sits behind the SafeChemEdu courses, reference materials, templates, registers, and broader support resources. The intention is to make chemical management easier to understand, easier to apply, and easier to maintain over time.
Building Training That Supports Real Workplaces
SafeChemEdu was built to support safer, clearer, and more effective chemical management through practical learning and implementation-focused resources.