Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced two new appointments to the WorkSafe New Zealand Board.
Stephen Reindler and Nikki Davies-Colley will join the board from 16 December for three year terms.
“These appointments bring to the Board strong governance skills and experience in sectors which WorkSafe is particularly focused on,” Mr Woodhouse says.
“Stephen Reindler is a very experienced director and engineer who has led health and safety programmes in large manufacturing, engineering, and transport companies.
“Nikki Davies-Colley brings her governance experience in the farming, forestry and energy sectors and her health and safety initiatives have become models for others in those industries.”
Chair and Deputy Chair of the WorkSafe Board, Gregor Coster and Ross Wilson, have also been reappointed.
“Both Gregor and Ross have shown a strong commitment to implementing the reforms introduced by the Health and Safety at Work Act.
“Gregor is an experienced health sector leader and has led the board from its establishment in 2013. Ross will continue to bring an employees’ perspective and a sound understanding of employment and workplace health and safety law.”
WorkSafe is a Crown agent and has an independent board, with five to nine members appointed by the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety.
Workers in elementary occupations such as cleaners, rubbish collectors, and labourers had the highest rate of injury in 2015, Statistics NZ said today, as the rate for agriculture and fishery workers moved down from the top spot for the first time in eight years.
Elementary occupation workers, which also includes jobs such as pest controllers, hotel porters, and courier drivers, had 238 claims per 1,000 full-time equivalent employees in 2015, which was the same rate as the year before.
However, the injury rate for agriculture and fishery group workers, which includes forestry workers, fell from 242 per 1,000 workers, to 233 in 2015.
The provisional figures are based on work-related injury claims accepted by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). They also show workers in elementary occupations had the highest rate of claims for more serious injuries, with 40 entitlement claims for every 1,000 full time workers. These claims could include death benefits, weekly compensation, lump sums, and rehabilitation payments.
Injury Statistics – Work-related Claims: 2015 – for more data and analysis
WorkSafe has developed a new online tool to help businesses get started with managing their workplace health and safety risks. The ‘Around the Block’ tool is animated and interactive, taking users on a journey through a typical city block.
Thirteen businesses often seen on a city block have been included so far – from cafes and hair salons, to medical centres and petrol stations. Clickable hotspots within each of the interiors identify some of the health and safety risks in that business and provide some information on how to manage them.
Over time, more business types will be added to the block, particularly targeting small and medium sized businesses that make up some 97% of the in New Zealand business landscape.
“Businesses have told us they want to better understand health and safety in their particular business context, so we worked with representative businesses to develop and test the tool. It’s designed to support them with training and involving workers in identifying and managing some of their key health and safety risks,” said Katherine Low, Manager Education and Engagement Strategy at WorkSafe.
The tool, www.worksafe.govt.nz/atb, was built by WorkSafe in collaboration with ACC to help businesses better understand their obligations under the new Health and Safety at Work Act from a risk management perspective.
US-made First Alert extinguisher had undisclosed additional safety catch trigger
A US-made fire extinguisher on sale in New Zealand features an undisclosed second-tier safety trip which is in addition to the standard pull-pin release mechanism.
The second tier safety device on the extinguisher is comprised of a barely visible plastic filament. This must be pressed simultaneously with the white trigger at the top.
No indication is given on the instructions of the existence of this additional filament-press detonation mechanism. The three part operating instruction only states to Pull Pin/Aim/Press Lever.
Absolutely no mention is made of the barely visible filament device which also needs to be pressed in order to detonate the extinguisher.. Neither is this secondary device pictured on the extinguisher.A reader has presented the now-used extinguisher (pictured) to MSC-Newswire in order to draw attention to the need to for factories and workshops to test operationally one example of each of their fire extinguisher brands and model types in order for this type of problem to be identified prior to a fire instead of afterward.
The pictured extinguisher was thought to be faulty and valuable moments were lost in fighting a real-life fire. In the event hoses were required to put out a fire which could have been instantly extinguished had the pictured device been brought to bear at the start of the fire.
A problem with New Zealand’s imported extinguishers is that just because they are made for other jurisdictions with other national safety regulations so there will be differing levels of operating procedures and these, as in the instance of this US extinguisher, may not be pictured or described on the device itself.
All factory and works safety officials should test under operational conditions one sample of every brand and series model type of its extinguishers urged our informant. They noted that factory fires were volatile just because of the works environment. Every split second was crucial in suppressing them. Secondary, and in the instance of the pictured extinguisher, disguised activation steps must be factored in. Something that could only be achieved by practical and applied type-testing
“We want others to learn from our experience with this problem which itself seems to be hidden from sight.”
From the MESCNewsWire reporters' desk
Last week I was asked to visit a small company that manufactured and installed kitchen bench tops and to discuss their future health and safety (H&S) requirements.Napier, 5 May 2016 - The company had been in business for eight years, they operated out of an old orchard pack house, had a very good reputation in the building industry and were very busy. The company had three employees.
No H&S systems were available. Like so many SMEs I visit, the business owner had very few management systems in place.
In the owners opinion H&S was a dirty word but he was now receiving many enquiries from his key clients stating if he wanted to continue to supply them and to work on their building sites he would have to have his H&S systems into place. His insurance broker had also asked him to address the issue.
After getting over the initial introductions and hearing his opinion that H&S was all B-S and nothing more than common sense and that he had never had an accident, we got down to business of identifying what and how he made bench tops.
It was during my observations that I noticed an employee approach the glue spraying booth, pick up a respirator off the work bench, put in on and then proceeded to spray the adhesive onto the laminate.When I asked the business owner if that was the normal process he nodded and then proceeded to tell me they have always done it that way and in my opinion was anything wrong with the way they did the spraying.
Here’s how the discussion went:Q - How often is the spray booth used during the day?A - Continually by all the staff, including myself
Q - Where is the extraction system turned on and by whom?A - We don’t have one as it’s too expensive to install.Q- Do you carry out annual medical checks for your employees?A- No why should we, do we have to?
I then proceeded to explain why this has to happen and especially with the type of exposure that he and his employees have to highly toxic solvent based glues.I then asked him if he had trained his staff in the safe use and application of the glues according to the Glues material safety data sheet. (MSDSA- What’s an MSDS?
Another explanation followed.
At this stage I picked up the respirator that was laying on the workbench and asked.Q- Do all the employees use this respirator?A- Yes, what’s the problem with that, they only use for a few minutes at a time?
I then proceeded to fold back the Latex face mask and showed him the sweat, spittle, MDF dust and other nasties trapped inside the mask.Q- Do you also use this?A- There was a stunned silence for a few moments and then he said shaking his head, not any longer.
He then said, I see what you mean but the cost of buying a respirator for each employee would be expensive, I can’t afford to do this.A- You can’t afford not to.
Q- What do you mean?A- If one of your employees was to come to work with the flu or a chest infection or worse and he, as well as all the other staff used the respirator, then there was a very high risk of all the staff and yourself contracting the flu resulting in all of you being off work for 3-5 days.
Q- What financial impact would that have on your business lest alone your clients and your business reputation?In addition, you also have a legal obligation under the Health and Safety at work Act to manage and to monitor the health and safety of your employees.
Q- How often do you clean the respirator or change the filters?A- Never, I have never really thought about it. It sounds like I really do have an H&S issue, how do I fix it?
DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? If it does then here’s an action plan
1. Ask your glue supplier to send you the latest copy of the MSD sheet for the glue. 2. Discuss the MSD information with your employees, especially the use of PPE and the emergency procedures. 3. Have an extraction system installed in the spray booth to remove any surplus glue spray in a controlled manner. 4. Consult with a specialist supplier and purchase a respirator for each employee. 5. Ask the supplier to train your employees in the safe use, cleaning and the replacement of the filters 6. Purchase four plastic Click Clack containers , put their names on them and mount them on the wall near the spray booth 7. When not in use, the respirators must be • Cleaned after use and or on a weekly basis with sanitizing wipes. • Placed in a zip lock plastic bag • Stored in a snap lock plastic container. • Depending on the type of filters used, they can work 24/7 when exposed to the air. Read the manufactures instructions. • Change the filters on a scheduled basis.
And lastly, I recommended that YOU identify and engage a qualified Occupational health nurse to undertake the health monitoring assessments for yourself and your employees.
Gordon Anderson is the managing director of Hasmate Ltd of Napier. Since 1993 he has worked extensively in the area of health and safety as an adviser, systems development, auditing and management training. He works with a wide range of industries in Hawke's Bay and in other centres.
The recent release of the Safeguard state of the nation health and Safety survey raises some interesting questions on just how far we have come or in some case not progressed.
Napier, 20 April 2016 - Business owners and senior managers must be more confident due to the fact that the responsibilities are more prescriptive and defined, they now have guidance instead of the subjective and non-prescriptive legislation they had to work with previously. This can only be a positive step in the right direction of H&S improvement
Someone once said that you should educate before you legislate.
As an independent health and safety advisor who has worked in the industry for 24 years, I too am a little bit sceptic as there has been twenty four years of resistance by 95% of NZ businesses to H&S. It’s a shame that it has taken the lives of 29 men to bring about the changes but dramatic events sometimes requires drastic action.
H&S in NZ has been in place as a compliance issue since 1992 and millions of dollars have been spent on the education process and information abounds on the WSNZ and the ACC web sites. There is no longer to make excuses that information is not available. I believe that this is one of the reasons why 78% are more optimistic about health and safety now starting to work.
It’s interesting to note from a number of postings on the Goggle Earth H&S Alerts of the comments stating that business in certain provinces are not prepared or aware of the changes to H&S, hello, where have they been?Is H&S improving, here in the province of Hawkes Bay I believe it is if all the calls for assistance are anything to go by?
Many businesses are now considering affirmative H&S management systems as an opportunity to improve their business rather than just to comply with the law. In fact many are now capitalising on this to gain contracts and a greater share of the market place.
H&S is now a key part of the selection criteria for all local body and larger businesses to do business with, so are the changes making a difference, they certainly are with my clients. The government set a goal to reduce the fatality rate and the number of work place serious ham incidents by 25% by 2020. Is 2020 vision not hindsight?
Will the Government reach this goal considering 2020 is only 4 years away? I believe this is ambitious considering the H&S culture that still exists in NZ. The proof or success of the H&S pudding will be the measurement taken by business like Safeguard.
Change takes time but with the different attitude and approach now being taken by Worksafe NZ and the many hundreds of independent professional H&S advisors in the market place it can only improve for the betterment and safety of the NZ workers and for the NZ economy.
Gordon Anderson is the managing director of Hasmate Ltd of Napier. Since 1993 he has worked extensively in the area of health and safety as an adviser, systems development, auditing and management training. He works with a wide range of industries in Hawke's Bay and in other centres.
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