New Zealand’s construction workplaces rate just 55 out of 100 in a new wellbeing study by Skills Consulting Group According to the Skills Consulting Group Work Wellbeing Index, which surveyed nearly 1500 Kiwi workers, New Zealand has an overall work wellbeing score of 62 out of 100, with construction coming in at 55. Continue →

Last year saw five fatalities in the agricultural sector alone in just two months – with this season already off to a bad start after a person was killed in a tractor incident Vehicles continue to be the primary source of harm in farm fatalities. Continue →

Rapid antigen testing, which can detect the virus in 15 minutes, has been given the green light more than a year after the Government’s own advisors called it a priority The tests will be first rolled out across Auckland hospitals and for self-isolating travellers in Auckland and Christchurch. Continue →

The civil construction and infrastructure industry has teamed up with government, industry bodies and employers to help meet New Zealand’s infrastructural skills challenge The Infrastructure Skills Centre has been developed jointly by Fulton Hogan, the Ministry of Social Development, Civil Contractors New Zealand, the Construction Sector Accord and a range of civil construction employers to give New Zealanders a unique range of experiences. Continue →

With the rise of remote working, many Kiwis are using more electricity-dependent devices at home, often plugged into unattended multi-plugs, which can place a greater burden on switchboards and increase the risk of electrical fires There are approximately 5,000 building fires in New Zealand every year, with about 1,000 being electricity-oriented. Continue →

Experts are urging the Ministry of Health to improve its mask wearing guidelines, calling current practices sub-optimal for reducing the risk of Covid-19 transmission A new rapid evidence brief Improving mask use to stop Covid-19 transmission from Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland, synthesises the most up-to-date  international research on the three main types of face masks – medical, cloth and N95 respirators. Continue →

The EPA is calling for a total ban on the ozone-depleting gas, methyl bromide, which is used increasingly in New Zealand to kill pests from trade cargo Methyl bromide is a toxic and ozone-depleting substance, which India and China require to be used on logs they receive from New Zealand. Continue →

A Rolleston-based pest bait manufacturing organisation has been fined $275,000 over an incident in which a worker was poisoned in May 2019 and nearly lost his life Pest Control Research Limited Partnership (PCR) manufactures pest control products including baits containing sodium fluoroacetate (more commonly known as 1080) as the toxic active ingredient. Continue →

Two parties were fined a total of $63,000 after twice disregarding WorkSafe notices about unsafe work from a height, and putting workers at risk of serious harm The Judge also imposed a Project Order under section 155 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, which require both parties to prepare and present at least three safety seminars and produce an article outlining the incident and the lessons learned from it for publication in an industry magazine. Continue →

The introduction of game changing 360-degree rotating telehandlers looks set to disrupt the infrastructure, civil and construction industries The days of needing on site a mobile crane, a boom lift or other types of elevated work platforms, a forklift and an excavator are numbered – one machine can do it all. Continue →