WorkSafe NZ plans new era of safety

New agency plans to offer a range of initiatives to promote and encourage health and safety in the construction industry.

WorkSafe New Zealand is open for business, with a strong focus on high-risk sectors including construction.

A handful of industries – forestry, construction, agriculture, manufacturing and fishing – account for more than half of the annual death and injury rates in New Zealand. These are among WorkSafe NZ’s top priority areas.

Ensuring a safe Canterbury rebuild is another priority focus.

As WorkSafe NZ Board Chair, Professor Gregor Coster, points out, in New Zealand (population 4.5 million) an average of 75 people die at work a year. By comparison, in the UK, with a population of 70 million that figure is 170.

In addition to the death and injury rate, a further 600 to 900 Kiwis die of work-related diseases or illnesses annually. About 170 of these deaths each year are asbestos-related. Other deaths are from cancers and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases caused by workplace exposures.

“New Zealand is losing far more people per head of population than other first-world countries,” says Professor Coster.

WorkSafe NZ officially began on 16 December 2013 as a stand-alone Crown Agency with a focus on transforming workplace health and safety attitudes and performance.

Its establishment was one of the key recommendations of the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety, which was itself a response in part to the 2010 Pike River mine tragedy in which 29 men died. Pike River laid bare the fact that New Zealand has long had a very poor record on workplace health and safety.

Professor Coster says WorkSafe NZ has the mandate and the resources to play its critical role in ensuring workers in New Zealand come home healthy and safe every day.

“For the first time in recent history, the workplace health and safety regulator is properly funded, high on the Government’s agenda, and breaking into the consciousness of more and more Kiwis,” he says.

“It is not our task alone. Every worker, every union, every health and safety advisor, every manager and every employer has a role to play.

“While we are committed to a collaborative approach, WorkSafe NZ as the health and safety regulator will enforce strongly where it has to.

“We have an unprecedented opportunity to make a real difference.”

Several of WorkSafe NZ’s priority areas come together in Canterbury, where the construction and infrastructure-related rebuild is on an unprecedented scale.

“It is critical that the Canterbury rebuild is safe,” says Professor Coster.

WorkSafe’s Canterbury Rebuild Health and Safety Programme has a dedicated team of inspectors focusing on the greatest risk areas for serious harm. These include proactive site assessments on work involving asbestos, excavations, working at height and mobile plant.

Part of the dedicated inspectorate includes a rotation of experienced inspectors from WorkCover New South Wales, who are seconded to WorkSafe NZ for much of 2014. They provide a high level of expertise and are very experienced in health and safety in construction.

The team is also working on a range of initiatives to benefit construction workers, contractors, employers, principals as well as the construction industry nationwide. Initiatives have included trade breakfasts, information sessions, forums and seminars on high-risk health and safety issues. To date, more than 1,800 people have attended these sessions.

“Our people are there to provide guidance, support and advice – as much of a safety net as possible,” says Professor Coster.

WorkSafe NZ is also delighted at the level of industry buy-in to the Canterbury Rebuild Safety Charter, (www.safetycharter.org.nz). This is a joint partnership with industry leaders and government and, as of December 2013, more than 70 organisations – including major construction and insurance companies – have signed or endorsed the Charter.

“It shows a very strong commitment to health and safety,” says Professor Coster.

“The Charter has ten key actions to help raise standards of safety across the rebuild. Everyone knows what is expected of them and what they have to do to keep themselves and others safe.”

For more information about how to ensure safety compliance on your worksite, visit the new website www.worksafe.govt.nz or call the helpline on 0800 030 040.

About WorkSafe New Zealand

• WorkSafe NZ regulates and enforces workplace health and safety and energy and gas safety.
• WorkSafe NZ took over functions of the Health and Safety Group of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (previously Department of Labour).
• WorkSafe NZ’s total inspectorate resource will increase by more than 65% with core inspectors going from 115 to 200, and high hazards and major facilities inspectors increasing from 6 to 29.
• WorkSafe NZ’s annual budget is $80 million, up from Health and Safety Group’s $53 million.
• WorkSafe NZ’s Board is comprised of Professor Gregor Coster (Chair), Ross Wilson (Deputy Chair), Paula Rose, Dr Patrick Strange, Don Stock, Chris Ellis and Kerry Prendergast.
• Acting Chief Executive is Geoffrey Podger, formerly Chief Executive of the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Gordon MacDonald, who has had a 35-year career with HSE, will become permanent Chief Executive on 17 March 2014.
• WorkSafe NZ enforces a number of pieces of legislation including: Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992; Electricity Act 1992; Gas Act 1992; Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Act 2006.
• New draft legislation will be introduced to Parliament early in 2014 to replace the Health and Safety in Employment Act. Among the principle proposed changes is a new definition of responsibility in the workplace. It will be the core duty of a ‘PCBU’ (Person in Charge of a Business or Undertaking) to ensure the health and safety of downstream workers, contractors and subcontractors so far as is ‘reasonably practicable’. There will also be a much greater requirement for PCBUs to consult and support their employees in health and safety matters.
• As part of the legislation changes, the asbestos regulations are also being reviewed.