Workplace Health and Safety Strategy for New Zealand to 2015

Government's leadership role involves promoting a high level of workplace health and safety performance. Government can also lead by example through having excellent health and safety performance in its own workplaces and through its roles as an employer and purchaser. Better co-ordination and alignment of government agency roles and activities is essential.

The 2006/07 year saw an emphasis on co-ordination and partnership by the government agencies charged with promoting workplace health and safety - vital to laying the necessary foundations for the Strategy to be successfully implemented.

Further highlights are the Government Leadership Programme - where the government is working to raise the bar in terms of standards expected - and in the national priority areas of airborne substances and vulnerable workers.

During the year, government agencies charged with promoting workplace health and safety have worked together on a number of joint projects, aligning the educational and promotional information they produce and better co-ordinating their regulatory functions.

As part of the Government's Quality Regulation Review, the need was seen to improve the interface between three key pieces of legislation: the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (the HSE Act), the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (the HSNO Act) and the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Act 2001 (the IPRC Act).

The Department of Labour, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) New Zealand, the Ministry for the Environment and, more recently, the Civil Aviation Authority and Maritime New Zealand are all working together on this project.

Feedback from industry and business organisations highlighted that their key concerns are about the administration of the legislation, rather than the legislation itself. Firms lack information or find it hard to follow, hazard management requirements a re complex and agencies do not co-ordinate their dealings with businesses.

A joint inter-agency document summarising the feedback received and identifying key compliance issues has been made publicly available.

The document sets out how the four agencies involved will improve the fit between different pieces of health and safety legislation and ease compliance for businesses. It also sets out some proposals for improving government responses to these issues in the short and medium term. Initiatives by agencies already in train include the following:

ACC and the Department of Labour have developed a joint work programme to reduce harm arising from workplace noise. This programme is a longer-term piece of work, still at an early stage. One of the key aims of this programme is to promote better noise management practices around how workplaces manage and reduce noise at source.

The Department and ACC will focus in the first instance on ensuring the standards and guidance for noise management are up to date, user friendly and easy to access.

Noise-induced hearing loss is one of ACC's four occupational health initiatives in priority industry sectors. For Department of Labour field offices, noise monitoring is an on-going activity. In the 2006/07 year, two offices looked beyond the traditional areas where noise might be considered a hazard - such as plants using heavy machinery - and ran pilot projects on noise in the entertainment industry.

Nightclubs and bars expose noise as a workplace hazard

Are nightclubs and bars bad for your health - and their workers' health? We're not talking alcohol, but workplace noise. Excessively loud music in employees' workplaces can potentially result in noise-induced hearing loss - permanent and irreversible.

Department of Labour field staff carried out two separate investigations during the year to establish the noise levels that employees in the entertainment industry are exposed to. The Nelson investigation was sparked by complaints alleging the potential for hearing damage, whereas Hamilton staff were keen to trial ways of engaging with the industry.

In Nelson, the noise exposure was not significant for the employees, who were part-time or casual - and one bar owner already had his own noise level meter to monitor the bar and outside the premises. It was different in Hamilton, where over half the venues exceeded the noise exposure standard.

The Nelson City Council had previously worked together with bar and nightclub operators on environmental noise, which is likely to have had a positive impact on noise levels and, most importantly, raised awareness of noise as a workplace hazard. Significantly, the Hamilton businesses had not managed noise as a health and safety hazard before the project. The Department of Labour staff gave advice on how they should be managing their noise hazards.

The projects demonstrate the necessary steps for government in managing any health and safety regime - building awareness through advice and education, forging relationships with businesses and using enforcement measures only where appropriate - and the effectiveness of local government and central government agencies working in tandem.

The Ministry for the Environment, ERMA New Zealand and the Department of Labour have developed a joint HSNO compliance and enforcement strategy. The strategy, approved by Cabinet, aims to improve the management of hazardous substances, reducing harm to people, their communities and the environment.

The strategy seeks better compliance through education and promoting the benefits of improved health and safety practices for the management of hazardous substances in the workplace. Underpinning the strategy is the provision of quality information to industry and end users of hazardous substances - advising them how to comply with HSNO and encouraging them to do so.

Agencies have formed a strategy implementation working group, which will also look at the collection of data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the interventions, and improving links between HSNO enforcement agencies and industry, unions, health and safety committees and workers.

Workers in the Chatham Islands have also benefited this year from a proactive approach to storing and using hazardous substances.

Chatham Islanders co-operate to safely manage hazardous substances

People in the Chathams have a safer working environment these days - all the workplaces there are co-operating to make sure they are storing and using hazardous substances safely.

The isolation of the Chathams makes HSNO certification an expensive exercise, but they have taken advantage of technical advice from the Department of Labour and collectively engaged a test certifier who has paid visits to the island.

Now they have in place approved handlers and fillers and location test certificates. They have emergency response plans for the airport, the port and the electricity department. There are new tanks installed and new walkways above tanks, a new crane for the port, signage, secondary containment and fire safety shut-off valves.

The Chatham Islands are really well prepared for an emergency. Thinking about the 'what ifs' has significantly enhanced their collective ability to recover - critical when you are a long way from help. Even more important are the measures in place to stop an emergency happening - preventing harm to people, to property and to the Chathams' environment.

A government inter-agency group has been established to improve the surveillance of occupational disease and injury in New Zealand. Agencies have undertaken an initial stock-take of their current systems, their purpose and how well they work.

The working group is looking at getting better analysis of the data from existing systems, which will provide better information leading to better reporting and prevention. A conceptual framework has been drafted focusing on key diseases and indicators that can be used to monitor them. The next step will involve consultation with key stakeholders including medical experts and government agencies.

Undertaking research into occupational health in New Zealand was a priority this year. Requests for tender have been published on the Health Research Council website for the following research projects:

ACC, the Health Research Council and the Department of Labour are also funding research into improving the control and management of noise in workplaces. This complements ACC research into the incidence and prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss.

The National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee released a report this year on the surveillance and control of workplace exposures in New Zealand.

This year, New Zealand joined the ranks of countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, the Netherlands and Australia when we ratified the International Labour Organisation Convention 155 on occupational health and safety and the working environment. This treaty sets common principles and obligations for health and safety internationally. New Zealand's ratification signals to the world our on-going and meaningful commitment to international standards of health and safety in our workplaces.

The definition of serious harm is an important component of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. In April this year, the Department of Labour publicly released a revised definition and received many quality submissions about its scope and content. Clarifying the definition will assist employers in meeting their reporting obligations and employees and their representatives to exercise their right to refuse work likely to cause serious harm.

The Strategy has eight national priorities requiring attention through the whole course of the Strategy. The national priorities have been chosen because they account for a significant proportion of all work-related diseases and injuries in New Zealand, they focus on emerging issues, or they help businesses and groups of workers with particular needs.

Two areas of concentration in the 2006/07 year were airborne substances and vulnerable workers. Other national priority areas have also been addressed through a number of activities. The case studies in this report highlight activities in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries - each included under the national priority area of high risk industries.

Airborne substances in the workplace include asbestos, wood dust, welding fumes and solvents. Asbestos is a known human carcinogen, with exposure to asbestos fibres linked to a number of specific life-threatening diseases, placing social and economic costs on workers, their workplaces and their communities.

Historically, asbestos was widely used throughout the world in building, transport and many other industry applications. Viable alternatives are now available in virtually all cases, and the current worldwide trend is towards a complete ban on both the manufacture and use of all products that contain asbestos. The Department of Labour is undertaking a review of asbestos management in New Zealand, seeking the views of stakeholders on the current and future management of asbestos.

In their day-to-day work, Departmental field staff are concerned with other airborne substances such as dust.

Don't breathe in that dust

EnviroWaste Services Ltd is a leading New Zealand based waste management firm, handling 500,000 tonnes of refuse annually through its collection, processing and disposal facilities throughout the country. Through environmental testing, the company found that dust levels at its refuse transfer stations posed a significant health risk, containing contaminants that could put staff at risk of pulmonary and gastrointestinal disorders.

EnviroWaste set up a team of representatives from all work areas to look for solutions, and they trained their staff to wear disposable respirators until they could get other dust reduction measures in place.

These further initiatives were progressively introduced, including a trial fogging system to reduce dust, modifications to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions, new systems for dealing with dusty loads, and changes to site machinery so that it will only operate with cab doors closed and the air conditioning working.

Subsequent testing has shown a significant reduction in airborne dust levels and the health risk to workers, and the company shared its findings with others in the industry, including its direct competitors.

EnviroWaste is still looking for ways that it can further reduce exposure to hazardous dusts at its sites. Its efforts have already earned it an award at the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards, where it won the EBOS/Ansell 'Best initiative to address an occupational health hazard' award.

Vulnerable workers are workers that may be at increased risk of work-related disease and injury, for example children, young people, new workers and migrants. Māori and Pacific workers may also experience a disproportionately high number of workplace incidents.

Over the last year, the Department of Labour has focused on better understanding who our vulnerable workers are, particularly in high risk industries such as manufacturing and construction.

This work has indicated that older men, Māori and Pacific men in high risk industries and children and youth workers may also be at increased risk. These groups will receive more focused intervention over the next year towards improving their safety.

Research on fatalities published this year by the Department of Labour provides a starting point for better understanding the many factors that can cause workplace incidents and fatalities.

The Department of Labour now wants to build on this work in partnership with stakeholders, including industry, business and unions, and focus on those most at risk.

An important initiative for vulnerable workers over the last year is the Passport to Safety, which promotes health and safety for 15-24 year olds.

Safety passports make young people safer in the workplace

Passport to Safety is an innovative health and safety learning programme for young people aged from 15 to 24. It's a web-based, self-paced programme that can be done individually, at schools, or in workplaces. It challenges young people not only on factual learning, but also on their understanding of how to act safely in a variety of situations.

Participants are awarded a Passport to Safety once the programme is completed. The Passport to Safety shows that they have a basic awareness of workplace health and safety. The programme covers individual rights and responsibilities regarding safety in the workplace, identifying hazardous situations, and generic handling and ergonomic requirements.

The Safe Communities Foundation New Zealand (SCFNZ) has introduced the programme, aimed specially at young people preparing to take part-time or casual work. The Foundation was impressed by the programme's success in Canada where, since it began in schools there, fatalities and injuries of young workers have reduced.

Now the programme has been redesigned for New Zealand and piloted in New Plymouth, with three high schools and the Young Enterprise Scheme in Taranaki all taking part. ACC and the Department of Labour have assisted SCFNZ in getting the programme going, by sponsoring 2,000 and 1,000 passports respectively. Other communities are also signing up - at present, Waitakere, Palmerston North and North Shore are planning training sessions for people facilitating the programme.

The workplace injury rate for 15-24 year olds is much higher than for older workers - Passport to Safety could help to reduce that. By improving health and safety outcomes for young people, the overall injury burden for New Zealand could be reduced significantly.

For more information on Passport to Safety, see www.passporttosafety.com/newzealand