New Zealand’s system for the management of hazardous substances in the Workplace is changing. The Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations will come into force in December 2017. The Regulations are aimed at reducing both immediate harm and longer-term illness that can result from the work-related use of hazardous substances.
If yours is one of the 150,000 businesses across New Zealand that manufacture, use, handle, store or transport hazardous substances, take note that the rules that govern the use of hazardous substances in the workplace are moving from the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act (administered by the EPA) into a new Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act (administered by WorkSafe).
Hazardous chemicals are substances, mixtures and articles that can pose a significant risk to health and safety if not managed correctly. They may have Health hazards, Physical hazards and/or Environmental hazards.
Examples of chemical that can cause adverse health effects in the Workplace include:
Examples of chemicals that can immediately injure people or damage property include:
§ flammable liquids
§ compressed gasses
§ explosives.
Many hazardous substances are also classed as dangerous goods.
As soon as the changes come into force, WorkSafe New Zealand will become solely responsible for compliance in the handling, storage, disposal, use and manufacturing of hazardous substances in workplace. Also included is the supervision of the Test Certification process for handling, storage and the location of the hazardous substances. As a result of these changes WorkSafe will also become accountable for enforcing environmental controls for hazardous substances in workplaces.
The EPA (Environmental Protection Authority) under whose umbrella hazardous substances currently fall, will continue its role in controlling the issue outside the workplace. It will still receive the applications for hazardous substances, assess their risks and decide whether they should be approved for use in New Zealand. The EPA will also continue to be responsible for setting the rules for classification, labelling, safety data sheets, packaging and the protection of the environment and public health.
In future, the EPA will be responsible for making sure importers and manufacturers:
One of the amendments made to the HSNO Act is the ability for the EPA to issue EPA Notices. These are a new way for the EPA to set rules under the HSNO. This change will allow the EPA to categorise all of the directions about one topic, so that they are easy to find and the compliance requirements are clear. Unlike regulations, which must be approved by Cabinet, EPA notices are approved by the EPA Board. This means they can be updated quickly and easily thereby enabling New Zealand to keep up-to-date with international developments. The notices also allow the EPA to remove duplicate or conflicting provisions, remove outdated, unnecessary or overly complex controls and remedy gaps or problems with the current regulations.
WorkSafe New Zealand outlines a number of steps to follow to ensure your site is compliant with regards to managing hazardous substances. The first step is to find out what hazardous substances you have on your site and prepare an inventory. List all of the substances on your site and create a site plan that shows where they are stored. The inventory should show the name of the substance, its hazard classification, strength of (liquid) solution and amount held for each separate location where it is held.
myosh HSEQ Software System assists companies with this compliance. The Chemical Register module allows all workplace hazardous substances to be listed, classified and linked to the applicable Safety Data Sheet http://myosh.com/modules/chemical-registers/. It also meets the requirements of the new Globally Harmonised System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).
The link below will lead you to a very useful guide with regards to Hazardous Substances in New Zealand. EPA – Your Practical Guide: Working Safely with Hazardous Substances
http://www.hazardoussubstances.govt.nz/media/13982/epa_your_practical_guide_2.pdf
References:
http://www.epa.govt.nz/hazardous-substances/hsno-reform/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.hazardoussubstances.govt.nz/guide
http://techcomp.co.nz/blog/hazardous-substances-regulations-changed-now-beware-changes/
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/chemicals
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/labelling
| A PRPressWire release || July 6, 2017 |||
Health threat changes its form
The National Government sensibly is de-fanging the dog issue by having its Internal Affairs Department sponsor advertisements seeking to encourage owners of attack dogs, or as the advertisement describes them “menacing by breed,” dogs castrated.
Local government authorities meanwhile are being encouraged to advertise to “proud owners” of all animals their obligation to get their dogs registered.
Why the gentle persuasion, instead of tough pressure on the owners of the animals?
There is strong evidence to demonstrate that dog owners are single-issue voters on the lines of love me, love my dog.
The dog threat is a highly visible one.
The late local body politician Brett Ambler saw his region becoming overrun with threatening dogs and he noted publicly that their owners clearly delighted in the stand-over status that the animal bestowed on them.
The urban dog problem has accelerated with the success over many years of the anti-hydatids programme.
While hydatids remained a threat the parasite dissuaded urban dog ownership simply because the zoonotic parasite easily jumped from animals to humans, notably young children at the crawling stage.
Early steps to contain the dog problem centred on pavement fouling and local authorities enjoyed success in engendering a community-led scooping solution.
The arrival of the “menace by breed” animals then took the problem to another level.
All political parties are anxious to avoid what they regard as the no-win issue and hope that various kinds of dissuasion instead of legislation will staunch the developing public menace.
The New Zealand Veterinary Association points out that “dog aggression is responsible for a significant public health problem.”
There are five dog breeds which automatically receive menacing dog status: Brazilian Fila, Dogo Argentino, Japanese Tosa, Perro de Presa Canario and (pictured) American Pit Bull Terrier.
There is a ban on importing these dogs, but no ban on owning or breeding them.
In 2002 the Ministry of Health declared New Zealand “provisionally” free of hydatids.
| From the MSCNewsWire reporters' desk || Thursday 6 July 2017 |||
Customs Minister Tim Macindoe welcomes the signing of a Customs Cooperation Agreement with the European Union in Brussels overnight.
The Agreement will strengthen cooperation with the European Union in such areas as Customs procedures and supply chain security and risk management.
Mr Macindoe says this Agreement signifies our joint ongoing commitment to close cooperation.
For New Zealand, the Agreement will:
allow for closer cooperation on the delivery of technical assistance and capacity building activities we provide to other countries, particularly in the Pacific enable us to learn from each other particularly in terms of research and development in customs technology provide the opportunity to develop agreements with the European Union covering other facets of the customs relationship.
“The Agreement also represents a necessary first step towards agreeing a mutually recognised secure trade scheme, which will ultimately allow accredited companies faster clearance of exports into the European Union and New Zealand,” Mr Macindoe says.
| A Beehive release || July 4, 2017 |||
The Vycle could be used during the construction of tall buildings. The lightweight, low square footage and flexible aspect of the system makes it suitable for retrofitting and temporary installations like in the use of scaffoldings or cranes. [. . .]
deZeen: 6 July 2017: More Clips
New Zealand’s top food innovation network is helping fast rising clean-tech company Hydroxsys with its amazing water extraction technologies aimed at mining, dairy and other industries that need water extraction or remediation. New Zealand Food Innovation Network chief executive Alexandra Allan says new membrane technology created by Hydroxsys will increase productivity throughout many industries in New Zealand such as dairying, to produce high value-added products, such as whey protein, more efficiently. This new membrane technology created by Hydroxsys will increase productivity throughout many New Zealand industries, including the dairy industry, to produce high value-added products like whey protein more efficiently. They are also able to help the wider agriculture sector, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, textiles and industrial wastewater. “Hydroxsys came to us 18 months ago to utilise equipment we have that is integral to the processing technology they are developing,” Allan says. “Hydroxsys was aware of our FoodBowl set up and we are now renting our membrane plant to Hydroxsys so they may carry out trials at their Auckland premises to validate their new technology before commercialising at the end of the year. “The FoodBowl has a wide range of food processing technology available to allow companies to produce new products and try new processing methods, either by coming to The FoodBowl near Auckland Airport, or through renting the technology to use at their own premises. “This is a cool flexible arrangement which means companies are able to innovate at their own premises or The FoodBowl, depending on what suits them best for their application. “The FoodBowl and wider New Zealand Food Innovation Network is dialling up innovation and entrepreneurship in the New Zealand food and beverage industry through enabling companies to commercialise new products on local and global markets. “We will be helping industry this year to develop capability on the latest new technologies such as high-pressure processing and areas of global market growth such as bioactives which is an area New Zealand has many special advantages because of our native flora and fauna,” Allan says. Hydroxsys has raise about $3 million in investment funding from people and organisations such as the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, Sparkbox and K1W1 (Sir Stephen Tindall’s investment fund). Hydroxsys has developed a platform technology approach for the membrane market and has sound technology so it can be a leader in markets such as China, the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Where organisations and businesses must treat waste streams before discharge, Hydroxsys can be relevant. The New Zealand Food Innovation Network is an accessible, national network of science and technology resources created to support the growth and development of New Zealand food and beverage business of all sizes or providing facilities and the expertise needed to develop new products and process from idea to commercial success. Its network is working closely with science, technology and export partners to grow capability.
| A Make Lemonade rrelease || July 6, 2017 |||
Inland port set to expand size of Hamilton_________________________________
What legalising cannabis might do to the workplace
Symposium examines NZ's work future
Customs agreement signed with EU
Amazing' response to appointment
Metals Trading Has a Paper Fraud Problem
Ports of Auckland has beaten out competitors from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific to be crowned Best Seaport in Oceania for the second year running.
The port was voted into the finals by customers and industry peers at the Asia Cargo News’ Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain (AFLAS) Awards; the only New Zealand port to be selected as a finalist amongst three Australian ports (Port of Melbourne, Port of Brisbane and Sydney Ports).
“I am so proud to accept the award as the best port in our region on behalf of our team. It is a fantastic achievement for Ports of Auckland and testament to the hard-working people that keep our port running 24/7. We have a world-class group of people working here, doing their best for our customers and Aucklanders” said Ports of Auckland Chief Executive Tony Gibson.
The awards recognise leading air and shipping lines, air and sea ports, logistics providers and other industry professionals. Ports of Auckland was the first recipient of the ‘Best Seaport in Oceania’ award when the category was introduced in 2016, and the only recipient in this category to date.
This year, thousands of Asia Cargo News readers cast votes across award categories such as Best Seaport, Best Container Terminal and Best Airport. Asia Cargo News reported votes in the thousands – a record number of votes were submitted this year.
| A POL release || June 30, 2017 |||
After Successfully Pushing Ashburton District Council to Call off Secret Backroom Water Deal with NZ Pure Blue, Consumer Watchdog SumOfUs Pressures Waikato to Follow Suit
In response to NZ Pure Blue Springs’ consent application this month to the Waikato Regional Council for permission to extract 6.9 million litres a day from the Putaruru Blue Springs in the Waihou River, 39,000 SumOfUs members in a new petition campaign urging the council to reject the company's bid. VIEW THE SUMOFUS PETITION HERE: https://actions.sumofus.org/pages/nz-pure-blue-wants-to-build-the-largest-water-bottling-plant-in-the-southern-hemisphere-in-putaruru/SumOfUs’s first victory against the company came In 2016, when the organization garnered enough public pressure to block NZ Pure Blue Springs from acquiring purchase rights to extract and export 1.4 billion litres of water a year in Ashburton. Now, as NZ Pure Blue Springs sets its sights on South Waikato to set-up a bottling plant and create the "largest production bottling plant in the southern hemisphere, exporting 100% of its products,” SumofUs is demanding the council block the company’s application and protect the natural resource.
For more information: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11879762 Jon Lloyd, Campaign Director at SumOfUs.org, explained: “The same water bottling company that tried to suck the drought-prone Canterbury Plains dry before SumOfUs members stopped it now wants to build ‘the largest production bottling plant in the southern hemisphere’ in Waikato. “NZ Pure Blue’s planned monstrosity will drain the Putaruru's Blue Spring of a staggering 6.9 million litres a day—exporting every drop of this pristine water for at least 15 years if NZ Pure Blue’s corporate greed has its way. “NZ Pure Blue thinks it can exploit yet another precious source of water, processing and shipping it overseas all in the name of corporate profit. Over 39,000 SumOfUs members have a simple message to NZ Pure Blue: We stopped you in Ashburton, and we will stop you again in South Waikato. This deal is bad for the environment and bad for Kiwis, and the Waikato Regional Council must reject it without delay.”
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., spokesperson for ActionStation explained: “NZ Pure Blue are not just taking New Zealand’s water for little-to-no fee, they are taking the best and cleanest water. They are leveraging our clean, green image to make a quick buck without giving much of anything back to the community or country. It’s not right. ” “We need our water to sustain families and communities, now and into the future. We urge elected leaders to take a long-term view when making decisions around the taonga that is water.”
Materials handling specialist, Hiab Australia, has launched three new cranes as well as a new Moffett M4NX truck-mounted forklift.
The new X-HiPro 232 sat at the Hiab stand alongside two other new X-HiPro mid-range cranes, the smaller X-HiPro 162 with a 15.1m extension and the series' big brother, the X-HiPro 302, which boasts a full outreach of 21m.
The new Hiab T160, a stiff-boom crane that is classed as a 15.5tm crane with a maximum lift capacity of 6500Kg is an integrated hoist that lifts straight up rather than in an arc, making it ideal for precision lifting over walls or lowering into pits.
Among all the shiny new machinery that was launched at the show, its interactive displays also garnered significant attention with a CTC simulator and its virtual reality head-mounted HiVision concept.
| Source: Trailer Magazine || July 5, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242