A regional council’s health and safety management system needs to be flexible, intuitive and able to encompass all of its different working environments – whether that be office-based, in remote farming country or out in the bush. Continue →

Road safety charity Brake is inviting all organisations who employ or contract at-work drivers to take part in its annual fleet safety survey. Continue →

International road safety charity Brake has published a new guidance report aimed at senior managers in organisations with at-work drivers in collaboration with vehicle tracking specialists Quartix Managing road risk: a guide for senior managers provides crucial information for senior managers on the importance of road risk management, along with practical measures for implementation. Continue →

A new online safety audit is now available to help New Zealand businesses assess how well their health and safety system is performing and identify areas of risk Leading nationwide health and safety consultants, Securo, estimate two-thirds of New Zealand businesses still have no idea how their contractors, regional branch offices or even their own workplaces rate in terms of the new health and safety requirements, despite new laws having been introduced more than a year ago. Continue →

A collaborative initiative to reduce hot works injuries saw KiwiRail win the Engagement category of the 2017 New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards in Auckland  The winning Hotworks project was a co-operative effort with KiwiRail’s union partner the RMTU. Continue →

Automated health and safety software is in hot demand following the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 says Hamish Howard, managing director of leading health and safety software provider Assura Speaking recently to the National Business Review, lawyer Sarah Shortall, best known for representing Pike River directors following the 2010 disaster, put the need for New Zealand to change behaviour succinctly: “Some of the ‘great’ aspects of New Zealand workplace culture – including working hard and getting things done and being innovative – have had the unintended, negative consequence of workers taking some shortcuts – not with an intent, in my view, to make people unhealthy or unsafe but rather to just get on and get work completed.” While I understand her sentiment, it’s important to remember that EVERYONE, workers and employers, have a duty to make sure the workplace is safe and healthy. Continue →

University of Canterbury (UC) research is paving the way towards improved accuracy in risk assessment and better informed treatment approaches to ultimately contribute to reducing harmful sexual behaviour in the community, including the workplace UC Lecturer in Clinical Psychology Dr Sarah Christofferson is working with three community agencies involved with treating harmful sexual behaviour to validate a risk and change assessment tool. Continue →

We live in an era of dramatic, improbable events that adversely affect the economy, the environment, the fate of household name companies and people’s welfare and health, observes software marketing professional Gordon McKeown . Continue →

A zero-harm approach on a key infrastructure project led the Fulton Hogan John Holland Joint Venture to success at the 2016 Site Safe Health and Safety in Construction Awards A major project to protect the security of Auckland’s water supply, the Hunua 4 watermain runs for 31km, from Redoubt North Reservoir in Manukau Heights to the Khyber Pass Reservoir. Continue →

The injury-prone dairy farming industry was the ideal sector in which to test the learning from incidents process, as Massey University researchers Justine Croft & Dr Kirsten Bendix Olsen explain The dairy sector has one of the highest injuries rates of any New Zealand industry – 2.5 times higher per 1000 full-time equivalents than the average of all industries combined. Continue →

Three definitions are important when it comes to managing change communication in the new workplace health and safety environment, says  Dr Vincent Covello, director of the Center for Risk Communication New York City   The three definitions are: risk communication – the exchange of information about risks crisis communication – the exchange of information during, before, or after a crisis, and change communication – the exchange of information about change. Continue →

Workplace bullying can be considered analogous to kiwifruit, says leading organisational psychology researcher Dr Helena D Cooper-Thomas Kiwifruit are a major export earner for New Zealand:  harvested, sorted, packed onto pallets, and sent off in shipping containers around the world.  Continue →