Workplace Health and Safety Council

The Workplace Health and Safety Council was established in 2007 to advise government on workplace health and safety matters. The Council will provide leadership and co-ordination, and advice on relevant legislation, standards and policies.

In particular, Council members focus on the best ways to make progress with the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy for New Zealand to 2015. For the Strategy to work, government, industry and employers, and individual workplaces and employees must all play a part in reaching its vision, ‘Healthy people in safe and productive workplaces’.

The Council is well placed to build consensus among the groups involved, with its tripartite membership: the eight-member group includes government, employer and employee perspectives on workplace health and safety. Ex officio members are Hon Kate Wilkinson, Minister of Labour, Hon Nick Smith, Minister for ACC, Phil O’Reilly, chief executive of Business New Zealand, and Helen Kelly, president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.

Other members, appointed to the Council bring valuable interest and experience in workplace health and safety to the Council. They are Andrew Casidy, general secretary of the finance sector union Finsec, Paul Jarvie, manager occupational health and safety at the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern), and Panu Raea, barrister and managing director of a consultancy company which specialises in environmental, health and safety and risk management.