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Under the new law, everyone will be responsible for workplace health and safety.
safety in each area of work and ensuring that sensible arrangements are in place.
At a practical level, it might mean the client and the head contractor working together to decide who is responsible for the workers they in uence or direct. This will include contractors and tradies who, in turn, have duties to their workers and anyone else on site.
Simple, practical and reasonable
The new law recognises that each business is best placed to know what it should do to meet requirements. It’s about doing what is ‘reasonably practicable’ and proportional and balancing the level of risk with the chance of an incident happening and how much control an organisation has in managing it.
It’s also about how we work more than where we work. Action or inaction, not objects, cause harm. For example, on sites, risks might include standing on high structures, driving heavy vehicles, wiring electrical appliances and carrying heavy loads.
Those doing the work – the driving, wiring and carrying – are best placed to identify the risks in their work and the equipment, training or behaviours to minimise them.
This means all employers will be required to have a worker participa- tion and engagement process. The scope of work and the number and spread of sta will inform the methods of worker involvement. For example, compare a sparkie who has two sta to a large contractor which has hundreds of sta across the country.
WorkSafe educating and engaging
As a regulator, WorkSafe is not all about enforcement. Our overriding focus is to embed good workplace health and safety culture and best practice in New Zealand.
To do that, we will join forces with organisations and workers to educate them about their responsibilities and engage them in making
changes that reduce the chances of harm. As part of our educating and engaging role, WorkSafe will provide ongoing information and guidance to ensure people are up to speed before the Act comes into force.
Prosecution seen as a last resort
WorkSafe will of course enforce, where it has to, for those who fail in their duties. While we’ll hold those to account where we need to, as a regulator, we aim to be proportionate and fair.
We’re not trying to catch people out or pounce on small oversights with minimal consequences but are tackling areas where signi cant numbers of workplace serious harms and deaths occur. Prosecution is seen as a last resort, not a rst step, and is not a decision taken lightly. Regulation and enforcement alone are blunt instruments unless matched with engagement and education.
Aiming to save lives, not stop them
If you believe some of the stories you hear, health and safety is all about stopping any activity that might possibly lead to harm. This is not our vision of sensible health and safety – we want to save lives, not stop them.
This is the beginning of necessary change in New Zealand’s workplace health and safety. The question is no longer ‘Do I have a responsibility for workplace health and safety?’ but ‘What is my responsibility for workplace health and safety?’ Everyone who goes to work deserves to come home healthy and safe.
What happens next?
Between now and when the new law comes into force on 4 April 2016, WorkSafe, working with other regulatory bodies and businesses, will provide information to help businesses ensure they are up to speed. Formal guidance, as a result of regulations, will be issued in early 2016.
For more Keep informed by visiting www.worksafe.govt.nz and sign up to the Health and Safety at Work Act subscriber updates.
Health and safety
Build 151 — December 2015/Janaury 2016 — 69
FEATURE SECTION
PHOTO – SNPA/PAM JOHNSON