Health and safety practice will be required to change
New Zealand workers at all levels will have to alter their work practices following changes to legislation this year, writes workplace health and safety expert SARAH O’CONNELL.
This week’s tragic death of quarry excavator Murray Taylor has happened at a time when there is a unique focus on workplace health and safety in New Zealand.
The Government is in the process of making the first significant changes to health and safety legislation in years. Changes to the 1992 Health and Safety Act are being made through the Health and Safety Reform Bill that is expected to come into force later this year.
The entire New Zealand workforce – from directors to newly appointed apprentices – is going to have to adjust their practices to reflect the new legislation.
Doing nothing is simply not an option. Are changes necessary? Any workplace accident is one too many and recent incidents in the quarrying, forestry, farming, manufacturing, transport and construction sectors highlight the need for greater vigilance and better outcomes.
WorkSafe New Zealand recently reported a 3000 per cent increase in notices issued for unsafe work practices in Christchurch since 2011. In 2014, 531 prohibition notices were issued in Christchurch by WorkSafe New Zealand after their inspectors witnessed unsafe practices.
Prohibition notices are issued if there is an immediate risk of harm. They do not usually result in the closure of the entire site, but they require people to stop work until the identified issue is rectified.
This massive increase in prohibition notices reflects an absolute focus by WorkSafe New Zealand on delivering safer working environments for all workers involved in the rebuild and recovery of Christchurch and the wider region.
WorkSafe has doubled its number of inspectors available to the city’s construction sites and has been proactively visiting sites to identify, correct and eliminate unsafe work practices.
Sector response to news of the increased prohibition notices has been mixed, with some employers suggesting WorkSafe is being pedantic and inflexible while others welcome the closer attention that is driving an increased internal focus on staff health and safety.
Whatever their view on this particular matter, every employer in Canterbury needs to face up to two facts.
Firstly, WorkSafe New Zealand has sharpened its focus on construction sector safety and secondly, the changes to the 1992 Health and Safety Act are going to demand a response from employers in every sector.
Almost every employer we work with has a genuine desire to ensure that every one of their workers returns home safe and well at the conclusion of every day’s work. We do not witness willful negligence and deliberate flouting of existing regulations. The vast majority of employers take their responsibilities extremely seriously.
However, I believe that the current level of attention, diligence and proactivity by WorkSafe New Zealand is good for the construction sector and may well be a precursor to changes throughout workplace practices in this country.
It will help drive the initial changes that will eventually lead to long term better health and safety practices as a community. Those changes need to include: Every employer becoming familiar with what the law requires of them in the health and safety arena,
Developing the understanding that health and safety is a matter of culture in a business – not just compliance,
Undertaking a gap analysis to identify where the company is failing to meet its health and safety obligations to its employees,
Developing an action plan to respond to the gaps identified in the analysis,
Delivering the training, systems, checks and reviews that will keep the organisation on task with its health and safety action plan.
Sometimes this will require external advice on issues ranging from first aid provision to advice on working from heights and from meeting the mandated health requirements on a worksite through to adopting a building construction passport.
Ultimately, every business owner needs to create and deliver a health and safety system that has integrity.
Employers are increasingly aware of their responsibilities to provide a working environment that reflects the expectations of a modern workforce.
We have a long way to go to have statistics we can own proudly, however we see firsthand as a provider real effort and intention of many employers to begin the journey of being more proactive and responsible in the way they address Health & Safety which is encouraging and significant.