Who We Are

Words from Our Owner:

“My vision for StaySafe Training is and always will be a family ran business, supporting locals, delivered by locals.

I have personal industry experience in a wide range of industries - marine, transport, construction, oil and gas. I am a great believer in delivering quality training to small groups with very minimum numbers required for training.

Our team have personally selected all trainers that work for StaySafe Training, to ensure that they align with StaySafe Training's values.” - Dene Dempsey

Our trainers exude the utmost professionalism, and are continually developing their skills each and every day. We specialise in safety training for several lines of work including working in confined spaces, operating heavy machinery such as excavators and skid steer loaders and working safely at heights. We’ll make sure you’re prepared for whatever you’re about to face.

StaySafe Training Organisational Structure
Co-founder & Owner - Dene Dempsey
Co-founder & CEO - Tracy Dempsey
Administration Manager - Roslin Buss
Administration and Student Support - Georgia Rose
Finance and Accounting - Tracy Dempsey

History of StaySafe Training - How we become

The Dempsey Family (Dene, Tracy, Jacinta and Daniel) have always been a tightknit family, always adventuring on the weekends and making memories together. Prior to StaySafe Training, Dene spent many of his years in the construction industry, and the local mines, and Tracy spent her time in retail and management.

On a family trip to the Riverlands, Dene and Daniel had spent the night camping on the riverbank, and this is where everything became about – after months of testing, and the inability to work, Dene was diagnosed with Ross River Virus, a disease that is transmitted through mosquitos – occurring on the camping trip at the riverbank. This diagnosis meant that Dene was unable to work in mainstream employment due to the unknown of the disease flaring. At this time, Dene decided to put his knowledge into developing StaySafe Training.

The journey was a long and hard road requiring a lot of training, and resilience from the family. In 2013, StaySafe Training was developed, offering a handful of small courses to the Whyalla community. In 2017, StaySafe Training was incorporated as Benchmark Safety (BMS).

StaySafe Training has delivered nationally recognised accredited training to the Whyalla community and surrounding areas under Third Party Arrangments with reputable RTOs. We become a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) in June of 2018. Since registration, StaySafe Training has continued to provide these services, as a local Registered Training Organisation.

Over the past 11 years, StaySafe Training have established, and continues to build, an excellent reputation as a provider of high-quality training and assessment services through consistent delivery of flexible and effective training and assessment solutions to meet employer, participant and industry needs.

The expertise brought to StaySafe Training by its trainers is extensive with trainers each having 30+ years of industry experience in construction, mining, marine, heavy machine operation and more recently in the last 5 years as accomplished trainers and assessors. In addition, the directors have extensive business ownership and administration experience.

StaySafe training continues to run as a small family business, mindful of always giving back to community and striving for locals supporting locals.

Pictured below are co-founders of StaySafe Training - Tracy Dempsey (CEO/Finance) & Dene Dempsey (Owner) presented with Whyalla Business and Tourism Business of the Month in 2022.