Industry and government leaders commit to signing safety charter

In early July, more than 50 construction, insurance, central and local government leaders came together to sign and endorse a Safety Charter to help keep everyone working on the Canterbury rebuild safe.

This industry-wide partnership comes hot on the heels of MBIE figures, which show that the rate of serious injury for Christchurch’s construction industry has jumped almost 70% since the earthquakes, although none have been in the red or rebuild zone.

Signatories – many of whom are competitors – have all committed to the ten actions in the Canterbury Rebuild Safety Charter, aiming to create a consistent and collective approach to health and safety on all worksites in the rebuild.

The challenge

In 2012, the Canterbury Rebuild Senior Leaders’ Group, consisting of representatives from the construction, insurance and government sectors, was established to lift health and safety standards in the rebuild and address the poor safety performance to date in the construction sector as a whole.

Across New Zealand, the fatal injury rate for the construction sector is almost triple the average for all sectors. In 2008, construction made the largest contribution to work-related fatalities. Based on this performance and the estimated number of workers involved in the rebuild, estimates showed that if health and safety was not made a priority, we could see:

• One to two people die every year of the rebuild.
• Many more suffer life-changing injuries, get sick or die an early death because of exposure to workplace contaminants and other hazards.
• 600,000 working days lost to illness and injury.
• This could cost $80 million in ACC entitlements.

Serious harm notifications and injury statistics from MBIE and ACC are already showing a rise in work-related harm in Christchurch. In 2010, there were 63 employees per 10,000 seriously harmed in construction in the city and in 2012 that number rose to 106 employees per 10,000.

Safety Charter

The Safety Charter, officially launched in Cathedral Square on 4 July 2013, has ten key actions:

• Leadership
• Prevention of death
• Prevention of serious harm
• Effective systems to manage risks
• Ensure all workers are involved in their health and safety
• A robust reporting and learning culture
• Understanding of site risks
• Full compliance with PPE
• Health and wellbeing services for workers
• No impairment due to drugs, alcohol or fatigue.

Chief executive of Fletcher Building – Construction Graham Darlow, who is a key member of the Senior Leaders’ Group, said the ten commitments will create a consistent and collective approach to health and safety on all rebuild sites.

“This is new territory for all of us. Many of us compete with each other, so it’s quite an achievement to produce this single charter, which will cross the industry,” said Mr Darlow.

For more information on the Safety Charter visit: www.safetycharter.org.nz