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As part of our partnership with Bernie, we sat down with David Galbally, the founder, to learn more about the product, the challenges with traditional burn care, and why having the right solution matters—especially in busy workplace environments.
Q: What inspired you to create Bernie?
What began as a family remedy became a much bigger mission: to create a practical, effective and accessible burn care product that could help households, workplaces and industries where minor burns are a regular part of life.
The story of Bernie began in the 1940s, when my grandfather, P.J. O’Neill, a Melbourne compound chemist, formulated a burn cream that became a staple in our family home for generations.
We knew it simply as the family “magic cream”. It was used on burns, scalds and sunburn for decades, and I always had a dream of one day making it available more broadly.
For a long time, life and work got in the way. I spent more than 20 years in sales and marketing, building other people’s brands, and never really had the headspace to properly pursue it. That changed when I left a corporate role suddenly and, around the same period, my wife Jade faced some serious health challenges. It gave us the push to see whether we could modernise it, validate it and bring it to market.
Q: What gap in burn care were you trying to solve?
When we started researching the category, we were surprised by how underserved people still were when it came to everyday burn care.
We saw a gap for a product that could soothe the burn, support skin recovery and help protect the affected area.
We also spent a lot of time speaking with people who experience burns regularly, particularly chefs and hospitality workers. The feedback was very clear. Many people did not have a burn treatment they truly trusted, and in fast-paced workplaces, people often just push through the pain and keep working.
Chef Shannon Bennett summed it up well: “Commercial kitchens are high-pressure environments where extreme heat is always present, and the occasional burn is unfortunately part of the job. The industry asks so much of its people, the least we can do is give them better tools when something goes wrong”
That was the gap Bernie was created to address.
Q: What are the biggest challenges people face when treating burns effectively?
The biggest challenges are time, access and behaviour.
In a busy kitchen or workplace, people often do not stop to properly treat a burn. They might run it under water, put it in ice, or simply keep working because service must continue.
That is one of the reasons we developed the Bernie Wall Unit. It is designed to make burn care more visible, accessible and practical in the workplace.
If Bernie is positioned in a high-risk area, such as a commercial kitchen or food preparation zone, staff can access it quickly after following appropriate first aid steps.
For workplace environments, convenience matters. The easier it is to access the right product, the more likely people are to use it when they need it.
Q: What can happen if burns aren’t treated quickly or properly?
Minor burns can become much more uncomfortable if they are not treated properly. They may blister, remain painful, and become difficult to manage during work, especially in environments where people are using their hands, wearing gloves, working near heat, or washing frequently.
Blistering can also make recovery more difficult. In a workplace setting, that can affect comfort, productivity and the employee experience and even escalate to infection and result in workplace claims.
Bernie is designed for minor burns. The first step should always be appropriate first aid, including cooling the burn under cool running water. After that, Bernie can be applied as directed to soothe the affected area, support healing and help protect the skin.
Q: What types of burns is Bernie most effective for? What makes it different from typical burn treatments or gels?
What makes Bernie different is its patent-pending emulsion. Hero’d by zinc oxide , a well-established wound healing ingredients in skin and wound care, in a rich cream base designed to soothe, support healing and form a protective barrier over the affected area.
Bernie is different because it is a cream. It has been developed to provide immediate soothing support while also helping the skin recover.
For workplaces, the format is also important. Bernie is available in tubes and single-use sachets, which makes it practical for commercial environments where burns may happen regularly and where hygiene, access and ease of use matter.
Q: How does it perform in high-risk environments like commercial kitchens or cleaning operations?
High-risk workplace environments need products that are practical, accessible and easy to use.
In commercial kitchens, quick service restaurants, food production areas and cleaning operations, minor burns can happen during normal work. The challenge is that employees are often under pressure and do not have time to stop for long periods.
Bernie has been developed with those environments in mind. It can be applied quickly to soothe the burn, support the skin and help protect the affected area.
We are already seeing strong relevance in hospitality and food service environments, including quick service restaurants, where minor burns are a common workplace issue. Bernie is also being rolled out in McDonald’s restaurants nationally, which is a strong proof point for its practical role in workplace burn care.
Q: Can you share a real-world example that demonstrates its impact?
One of the strongest examples came through Shannon Bennett.
Shannon had been sceptical at first, as many chefs are. He had tried plenty of burn products over the years and did not expect much. But after using Bernie himself and then applying it in his kitchens, his view changed completely. You can see his stories on his Instagram channel.
One example involved a chef working near a very high-heat charcoal unit who sustained a burn during service. Shannon applied Bernie, and the next day the result was significantly better than he expected. That experience was one of the reasons he decided not only to use Bernie and advocate for it across the hospitality industry.
We also see the everyday impact in quick service restaurants, where even mild burns can cause discomfort during a shift. Bernie gives teams a practical option they can access quickly and use as part of their workplace burn care approach.
We recently had an amazing outcome when a hot water pipe burst. The Bernie customer diligently applied Bernie for 3 weeks, whilst letting the affected area breathe at times during the day. The results were amazing.
Q: Where do you see Bernie making the biggest impact?
The biggest impact is in workplaces where minor burns are common, and where people often do not stop to properly treat them.
That includes hospitality, quick service restaurants, food service, commercial kitchens, catering, cleaning, manufacturing and other environments where heat, steam, hot liquids or equipment are part of the job.
For employers, this is about more than just having another first aid product on site. It is about helping staff feel cared for, improving comfort during shifts and giving teams a better way to respond when minor burns occur.
Because Bernie is an over-the-counter listed medicine, and because it is available in practical workplace formats, we see a clear role for partners like Fresh n Clean in helping businesses access a better burn care solution at scale.
Q: Why should businesses prioritise better burn care?
Businesses should prioritise better burn care because minor burns can have an outsized impact on employees.
A small burn might not seem serious, but in a busy kitchen or workplace it can affect comfort, confidence, productivity and morale. People often continue working through pain, especially in hospitality and food service, because they feel they have no choice.
Providing a practical burn care solution sends a strong message to staff: we understand the risks of your work, and we care about giving you the right tools when something happens.
From a business perspective, better burn care can support staff comfort, reduce disruption, improve the employee experience and help create a safer, more responsive workplace culture.
We have also shown strong ROI’s by lowering workplace injury claims and loss shift time, relating to burns. These can result in insurance claims. Bernie has shown a financial ROI for our customers.
Q: What made the partnership with Fresh & Clean the right fit?
Fresh & Clean are the right fit because they already understand the needs of workplaces where hygiene, safety, compliance and practical product access matter. Bernie fits perfectly in the services it offers.
Bernie was created to solve a real-world problem, and the Fresh n Clean network gives us the ability to make that solution available to the businesses that need it most.
For us, the partnership is about more than distribution. It is about helping businesses build a more managed approach to burn care. That means having the right product, in the right format, in the right location, so staff can access it quickly when a minor burn occurs.
Fresh n Clean’s experience across hospitality, food service, cleaning, facilities and workplace supply makes it a natural partner for Bernie.
Q: What’s next for Bernie?
The next phase for Bernie is about education, access and scale.
We are continuing to grow through pharmacy, with Bernie now available nationally through major pharmacy banners, but workplace burn care is a major focus for us.
We want Bernie to become a standard part of burn care in commercial kitchens, quick service restaurants, food service, cleaning and other high-risk workplaces. That means working with partners like Fresh n Clean to make it easy for businesses to adopt, stock and maintain.
We are also focused on building awareness.
And then… well …keep a look in Pharmacies this summer… Sun Burn can be nasty…
Q: What’s one thing you want people to understand about burn care?
The first thing is Bernie 😊
…The main thing is that minor burns should not be ignored.
People often think, “It’s just a burn,” and push through. But early, appropriate care can make a big difference to comfort and recovery.
