The waste industry tackles health and safety

Once, waste just went to the tip. Now, resources are recovered and recycled, organics are composted and landfills are highly technical worksites. And along with these changes in work practices and technology have come some unique injury prevention challenges.

After some fatalities, the industry set up a working group to improve health and safety, which then became Safety@WasteMINZ - a sector group within the Waste Management Institute of New Zealand. WasteMINZ is a non-profit society with members from all areas of the waste management world - collectors and disposers of waste, recyclers, engineers, scientists, educators, government departments, territorial and regional councils, and consultants - and from multinationals to small rural councils.

Safety@WasteMINZ has consulted widely to develop and publish a health and safety strategy for the waste industry, supported by the Department of Labour during development and by ACC in publication.

The strategy provides an overarching direction for health and safety in the waste and recoverable resources industry. As well, it identifies a number of risk areas within the industry to be worked on over the next two years. That work is now in train - the document Health and safety issues in the solid waste and recoverable resources industry has just been published.

As Greg Dearsly, the chair of Safety@WasteMINZ, notes, "Excellence in health and safety is more than complying with codes of practice. It is about creating a safe environment for workers and the industry. Leading the way in best practice will require industry and local government working in partnership.

FishSAFE works together to improve safety in the fishing industry

Launched in May 2006, FishSAFE is a programme for small commercial fishing vessels, designed to cut down the high rate of injuries in the sector. It's a ground-breaking initiative, including safety guidelines, hazard management training workshops for inshore fishermen, and a mentoring programme, with mentors based at ports around New Zealand as a local contact point for fishermen. The mentors help to co-ordinate local workshop training and provide one-on-one follow-up and support.

FishSAFE has been developed by the fishing industry in conjunction with Maritime New Zealand and ACC. The workshops are facilitated by the Seafood Industry Training Organisation. An added incentive for those who undertake the training is an ACC levy discount of 10 per cent off their current levy.

FishSAFE and Federation of Commercial Fishermen chairman Pete Dawson says the high number of fishermen attending the workshops reflects the strong level of buy-in from the industry. "To have penetration with about a third of our target audience in a year is a significant achievement. While people might be going into the workshops with the carrot of the ACC levy reduction ... they are coming out with a better recognition of the ... importance of safety management on their vessels and how they can make their business more efficient and less costly, because the social and economic impact of injury is huge."

Darren Guard, vice president of the Port Nelson Fishermen's Association, says an added benefit of the FishSAFE initiative has been the development of positive relationships between people in the industry, Maritime New Zealand and other key agencies. "FishSAFE is probably one of the first projects where everyone is working together on the same side ... It's a winning format getting the industry involved ... and I'm sure it could be replicated elsewhere."

ACC are now looking at aquaculture and seeing how the learning from FishSAFE can be extended to that sector.

Rural suppliers lead the way with agrichemical safety

Pine Gould Guiness Wrightsons and Ravensdown are leading the way in encouraging the safe use of agrichemicals in the rural retailing sector. Initiatives such as free HSNO-approved handler training are helping farmers to meet new obligations under the HSNO Act.

Feedback from such sessions has been very positive. One Waikato farmer who attended a Ravensdown course in November 2006 found that, not only was the FarmSafe course free, but that for $100, he was able to get all the safety equipment needed for mixing chemicals.

"It proved to be a good one-day course. Myself and other farmers found some practical things in it, including ways to bund a spill of chemical," he said.

Other agrichemical initiatives are also making a difference. In a recent survey, 60 per cent of farmers significantly changed the manner in which they handle, store and use agricultural chemicals after completing GROWSAFE.

Local community signs up for school bus safety

Safety around school buses has become a serious issue in the Otorohanga and Waitomo districts this year after a five-year-old was killed and a six-year-old seriously injured after getting off school buses.

Christine Chaplow, road safety co-ordinator for the Otorohanga and Waitomo districts, quickly realised that the most obvious place for a safety message for drivers was on the back of school buses. Local bus companies and their drivers, a local signwriter and the community all quickly got behind the idea, which saw safety signs painted on the backs of several buses. The signs, supported by funding from LTNZ, are believed to be a first for New Zealand.

Christine also organised a school bus to attend a Kids Safe day for schools at the Te Kuiti Recreation Ground where Te Awamutu police helped school groups learn how to be safe around buses, and she took a full page advertisement in the Waitomo News on school bus safety, which invited readers to cut out the ad to keep as a reminder.

Christine hopes other districts will pick up on the initiative, which will continue next year.

Dairying women get to grips with health and safety planning

Women involved in dairy farming have had the benefit of a Network for Women in Dairying since 1998. The network offers professional and personal support through activities like conferences, Dairy Days and regional meetings.

Farming health and safety is a major issue for the dairy industry, which generally has the worst record within the agricultural sector. Department of Labour staff became involved with helping the network with health and safety issues early in 2006, when they gave a presentation to a Marlborough network meeting.

That led to a health and safety plan workshop with the Marlborough network in May 2006, which included men from the local Dairying Discussion Group. Before the workshop, only one of the farms represented had a health and safety plan in place: by the end, all participants were well on the way to preparing a working plan.

In turn, that led to an invitation for the Department to present workshops at the network's November Dairy Days in eight regions right across New Zealand, from Whangarei to Invercargill. Department of Labour staff covered topics on keeping children and visitors safe, preparing a workable health and safety plan, and stress. ACC provided handouts and CDs on dairy farm hazard management for network members to take away.

Christina Baldwin of the network, who chaired several of the Dairy Days, said of the presentation, "I was delighted that the Department of Labour person came across as one of us - she understood our territory, used practical illustrations and was there to help, not to lecture."

The on-going relationship the Department has established with the network will help reduce injuries in the industry - women are often in charge of the administration on dairy farms and become the 'change makers' within the industry on health and safety.