More than 300 issues found in school tech classes
New Zealand technology classrooms were riddled with hundreds of health and safety issues when assessed by WorkSafe late last year.
According to a WorkSafe report, released under the Official Information Act, unguarded machines, faulty emergency stops, toxic fumes and incorrect hazardous substance storage were just some issues “consistently found across the country”.
A total of 328 enforcement actions were issued to 131 schools after WorkSafe assessed their technology classrooms during October and November 2023.
The Ministry of Education was informed of the report early this year.
The 131 schools were chosen randomly after damning assessments of 16 Taranaki and South Waikato schools in the 2022/23 financial year resulted in over 100 enforcement actions. The most common issues were a lack of dust and fumes controls, and insufficient health monitoring. Unguarded machines or machines that hadn’t been regularly assessed were frequently found, as were ill-stored or unrecorded hazardous substances.
The highest number of enforcement actions were collected by three North Island schools – Otomoetai College, Rotorua Lakes High School and Tauranga Boys College - that received seven improvement notices each.
Eleven Canterbury schools were assessed, including Ashburton College which received five improvement notices for machine issues, dust and fume management, and health monitoring. The school has since rectified its issues, but in September 2023 a year 13 student not wearing protective gear caught fire while using a grinder in a workshop.
Current principal Simon Coleman said his predecessor, Ross Preece, met with the student and their family at the time and resolved all concerns with WorkSafe. Factors that contributed to the incident were “quite evident” and highlighted the continual enforcement of safety expectations, Coleman said.
From 2019 to 2023, 69 students lodged ACC claims for injuries after operating machines at schools. Coleman wasn’t surprised the WorkSafe report identified so many issues nationally considering how dated many technology rooms are.
While some modern campuses had little to worry about, “there’s an awful lot of schools that are much older, and have been around for a long time”. Furthermore, ventilation systems can cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to set up, he said.
Technology-related careers are “really viable” for Kiwi students, so it is important to provide the pathway in schools, he added. “Schools do need to be kept up to spec and up to the levels that we need. I guess that’s the challenge of the current Government and the Ministry.”
Ministry operations and integration leader Sean Teddy said the ministry was communicating with certain schools to remedy identified safety issues. He said in only three cases where prohibition notices were issued was there an imminent or serious risk.
Mairehau High School received one of the prohibition notices, for machine guarding, alongside three improvement notices.
Principal Harry Romana said he was glad WorkSafe had since come in to ensure the school’s technology rooms now complied.
In one instance the school “just got rid of a machine” because it was old and configured another machine’s guard.
Riccarton High School received five improvement notices, Hornby High School received four and one sustained compliance letter, and Cashmere High School received three improvement notices.
Five other Canterbury schools received one or two enforcement actions. Lincoln High School received zero - one of only 12 New Zealand schools to do so.
The report concluded by encouraging schools who weren’t assessed to proactively ensure they meet health and safety requirements considering the findings.
The Ministry said “any further assessments and reporting will be the decision of WorkSafe”.
WorkSafe said it had no plans currently to repeat the exercise, but it had provided a “foundation” for the Ministry of Education to do so should they choose to.