'TIS THE SEASON

After what feels like the longest year, we find ourselves coming in to the holiday season. Think Christmas parties, farewell lunches, social club gatherings, the races, party dresses, ugly Christmas sweaters, the lists goes on! However, in a lot of cases this also means alcohol consumption to some degree and the expectation of social behavior can be somewhat forgotten. Now would be a good time to remind your team of acceptable social behavior's to ensure the health and safety of everyone without jeopardizing a fun event.

Things to consider: • Implementing a Social Policy (we have one available, please contact the office if you would like to purchase one) • Setting a limit for the number of drinks per person (and reminding all team members that this is a LIMIT not a target) • Ensuring there are non-alcoholic drinks available • Having food available • Phone numbers for Taxi's/Uber readily available

GIVEWISE

We also continue to support Huggable Hearts and are aiming to donate 450kg of rice. We have untill December to meet our target amount.

If you wish to donate some rice, please drop it off to the team in the Safewise office or give to your consultant at your November safety meeting. All donations are greatly appreciated.

CONSULTANT CORNER

Each month one of our consultants (Tracey, Chantelle or Patricio) will provide you with a snippet of health and safety information. This month Chantelle will chat about what she has been up to.

Chantelle's Chats

You must, so far as is reasonably practicable, make sure that your workers, or people that visit your workplace are not exposed to noise levels that are: • equivalent to 85 decibels averaged over 8 hours, or • a peak noise level over 140 decibels.

This always applies, whether or not your workers are wearing hearing protection. Make sure your workers always wear hearing protection if it is needed. Remember, hearing protection is the least effective control measure, and should only be considered after you have tried to eliminate or minimise the noise risk. A competent person will be able to tell you if a detailed noise assessment is needed. This will identify noise sources and high-risk areas and tasks at your work. The health of your workers is just as important as the health of your business.

WELCOME

Daylight saving has started – summer is on the way. We are enjoying the extended daylight hours in the evenings. There seems to be much more opportunity to spend time outside after work. We are starting to prepare our summer bodies with walks, bike rides and Zumba classes. The Zumba classes are great fun but very challenging for the less coordinated amongst us!

GIVEWISE

Our quiz night fundraiser is booked. We will be at the Keg Room, Rototuna on the 14th of October at 6.30pm. Please click on the link to see the invitation. We would love to see you there.

Huggable Hearts. Huggable Hearts is a family-run organisation providing grieving families who have lost a baby with a fabric heart made to their angel's birth. They operate solely by donation. This can be fabric, filling, rice or money. https://www.huggablehearts.co.nz/

CONSULTANT CORNER

Each month one of our consultants (Tracey, Chantelle or Patricio) will provide you with a snippet of health and safety information. This month Tracey will chat about what she has been up to.

Tracey’s Tales

I am often asked about having a health and safety system. Many people tell me that they have one, everyone just knows what to do. Unfortunately, this is not a system. It relies on people knowing and remembering the same information as everyone else.

According to the Oxford dictionary, a system is “an organised set of ideas or theories or a particular way of doing something”. It is generally accepted that a system is documented. This ensures that the same information is available in the same format for everyone. There should be an induction process, so your workers know what that information is, where to find it and how to implement it. A system doesn’t work if only management know about it.

The health and safety system should include information on managing all aspects of health and safety relative to your business. Generally, this includes information on how to manage workers, hazards, accidents, emergencies and contractors. Another very important aspect, which is often forgotten, unless the system is developed by a professional health and safety practitioner, is the management of the system itself.

I’m also asked who should have a system. The short answer is pretty much everyone. A system is required if an organisation employs staff or uses contractors. People who have no staff or contractors should still have a system if they interact with others as part of their work, particularly if the work or workplace has hazards

WELCOME

What a changing world we live in. Since our last newsletter, Covid-19 has impacted us all again. We feel particularly for our Auckland people – hang in there! It’s surprising how quickly we forgot the detail about the different levels. It took a bit of getting used to the social distancing requirements, even in the Waikato.

GIVEWISE

Our quiz night fundraiser is booked. We will be at the Keg Room, Rototuna on the 14th of October at 6.30pm. Please click on the link to see the invitation. We would love to see you there.

Huggable Hearts. Huggable Hearts is a family-run organisation providing grieving families who have lost a baby with a fabric heart made to their angel's birth. They operate solely by donation. This can be fabric, filling, rice or money. https://www.huggablehearts.co.nz/

CONSULTANT CORNER

Each month one of our consultants (Tracey, Chantelle or Patricio) will provide you with a snippet of health and safety information. This month Patricio will chat about what she has been up to.

Pato’s Patter

Many times, we purchase chemical products for specific projects, we use them once and then we store them away. But probably nobody takes the time to verify what the requirements are or the optimal conditions to store these products. We may be putting together two chemicals that are incompatible and generating a potential emergency.

If we take this to the scale of a business, and the quantities we store are not small, the potential for an emergency is considerably greater, as are the consequences. A good example of this is what happened recently in Beirut, where large quantities of ammonium nitrate were stored for more than 6 years without proper supervision or maintenance.

This is why it is always recommended to carry out a regular inventory check, verify that the containers are in good condition and without leaks, eliminate products that are not used and that have been stored for a long time, and always have the latest version of the SDS, to have the updated information of our chemical products.

That is why we recommend having a hazardous substances register, and keeping it constantly updated, this will facilitate the work when identifying possible storage incompatibilities or specific requirements. In addition to using the Hazardous Substances Calculator (https://www.hazardoussubstances.govt.nz/calculator), a tool that will help you work out what key requirements you need to meet, based on the hazardous substances you use, handle, manufacture and store at your workplace.

WELCOME

Life never stands still. This is as true at Safewise as anywhere. Last year we re-wrote our health and safety system so that it meets the new ISO 45001: Occupational health and safety management systems standard. It has been reviewed by an independent auditor who gave us valuable advice to refine it. The whole team are working on this, ensuring we get a range of approaches. This is a lot of fun and involves a lot of cake!

GIVEWISE

Planning is underway for our charity event. Chantelle, as the Safewise champion for Huggable Hearts, has chosen a quiz night. Watch this space for more information. We hope you will attend, have fun, maybe win a prize (we’ll have prizes for the most interesting answers as well the correct ones!) and support a charity which helps grieving families.

Huggable Hearts. Huggable Hearts is a family-run organisation providing grieving families who have lost a baby with a fabric heart made to their angel's birth. They operate solely by donation. This can be fabric, filling, rice or money. https://www.huggablehearts.co.nz/

CONSULTANT CORNER

Each month one of our consultants (Tracey, Chantelle or Patricio) will provide you with a snippet of health and safety information. This month Chantelle will chat about what she has been up to.

Chantelle’s Chat

I have been in the health and safety industry for nearly 7 years now and this is one thing I have come across in all the different workplaces I have been in.

People seem to have a misunderstanding about reporting incidents in the workplace, where they believe that only major incidents need to be reported or that hazards or near misses don’t have to be reported.

Minor incidents could lead to much bigger injuries along the line. For example, a small cut can cause an infection, or a small leak that comes into contact with an electrical cable could lead to the workplace burning down / fatalities.

To strive for a positive H&S culture it is important to have worker by in. If workers are confident in their organisations H&S processes more incidents and hazards will be reported preventing catastrophic events from occurring.

You can promote this type of reporting by ensuring that there is an adequate H&S system in place to report incidents and hazards. It is also very important that you have a proper reporting system in place where you ensure that when corrective actions are implemented and that you do a follow up to ensure that the corrective action that you have put in place are effective.

WELCOME

Our working life is almost back to normal now we are operating in Level 1. Unfortunately, we know that is not the case for everyone. We lost some valued clients, people we like to consider as more than just clients. We hope that you are all coping and learning to thrive in this new world. Remember that we are here to support your health and safety management. Contact us if you need any help.

OUR NEWEST TEAM MEMBER

Congratulations to Sara and Tyson on the birth of their little girl. Rhyse was born on 7th June. She and Sara are doing well. We were very happy to meet Rhyse at our Team Talk meeting. She is a very happy baby and coped with being passed around for a lot of cuddles.

EASTER EGGS

Our management clients will be aware that we bring marshmallow Easter eggs to our safety meetings before Easter. This year our meeting schedule was interrupted by COVID-19. We apologise to those who missed out, but the Easter eggs were donated to Kowhai Consulting who put them in packs to give to some of our needier children in Ngaruawahia. The children were very happy to receive them.

CONSULTANT CORNER

Each month one of our consultants (Tracey, Chantelle or Patricio) will provide you with a snippet of health and safety information. This month Tracey will chat about what she has been up to.

Tracey’s Tales

Over the month I have been busy auditing. I was the auditor once and supporting clients with their audits on two other occasions. Auditing is a good way of checking that you are doing what you think you are doing, or say you are going to do. They are undertaken for a number of reasons; internal compliance check, benchmarking, or your clients require you to meet a set standard. Safewise utilise audits as a way of ensuring we are helping our clients meet their required health and safety standard. We undertaken internal compliance audits with our management clients regularly. These allow us to look beyond the surface activities and identify positive actions and areas for improvement. Audits are not generally considered to be fun, but we look at them as learning experiences, helping us improve our systems and our clients’ health and safety performance

WELCOME

Monday was officially the first day of winter, fog is a major driving hazard in the Waikato. Fog can be one of the most dangerous weather conditions to drive in due to its ability to significantly reduce your visibility. Fog consists of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air just above the earth's surface.

It is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water and landscape which is why the Waikato region is so affected by fog.

Tips to help with driving in the fog:

Dip your lights. If you drive with your headlights on full, the light will just reflect back to you. Use fog lights if you have them.Slow down. With visibility reduced, you need to allow yourself enough time to react. Do not use cruise control as this also reduces your ability to react quickly.Focus on the road. Turn down the radio and keep conversations to a minimum so you can keep your attention on driving.Open your window. This will allow you hear other traffic on the road.

PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

In case you didn't know, we sell a range of products that can assist you with implementing your health and safety system.

Ladder stickers - $4.00*

Take 5 booklet - $12.50*

Driver packs - $25.00*

Signage available - Price and size vary

Hazard boards

CAUTION Slippery when wet (A-frame floor sign)

Assembly point

NO ENTRY Authorised Personnel Only

WARNING Machinery Operating

HAZARD Asbestos

EXIT

Eye Protection must be worn

Hearing Protection must be worn

Eye and Hearing Protection must be worn

*Prices exclude GST and postage

MEN'S HEALTH WEEK (15th - 21st JUNE)

This month we have Men's Health Week Follow the link below and complete the men's health survey. They have teamed up with Unichem and Life Pharmacies - when you take in your survey results into participating pharmacies, you can receive a free blood pressure check and a pharmacist can make further recommendations on how you can look after your health.

https://www.menshealthweek.co.nz/

FAREWELL TO SARA

We hosted a baby shower for Sara before we farewelled her at the end of May as she has now gone on maternity leave. Sara will join us in the Safewise office again at the end of October.

New Zealand, along with the rest of the world, has been through a unique experience, one we hope never to repeat. The craziness of panic buying hand sanitiser, toilet paper and PPE looms large in our memories. Covid-19 highlighted many positive aspects of humanity and identified other areas where we did not stand for the greater good.

Like many others, I tried to buy,with limited success, hand sanitiser for my on-the-road workers to keep in their vehicles. If I were honest, I would say that this was not something I had previously thought of. My workers are always based in our office with regular visits to our clients. The visits usually occur in an office-type environment. My workers have easy access to clean and well-maintained facilities.

However, many workers have different experiences when working away from the administration base. They may not have easy or regular access to clean toilets, they may be required to sleep in their trucks (often in very good conditions) and use shared facilities, they may stay in budget motels. Meals may be irregular and limited in range.

Part of the health and safety responsibility of the organisation is to manage the health and safety of their workers wherever and whenever they are at work. The definition of a workplace includes a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, ship or other mobile structure. Therefore, the organisation must ensure that workers have easy access to appropriate facilities to manage their health and safety.

One of my clients was confident that they were providing appropriate accommodation for their drivers when they stayed away. They paid for accommodation and a meal allowance. The accommodation offered the kind of facilities that would be expected. However, in conversation with a driver, they identified that the place was not cleaned to an acceptable standard and that drivers were uncomfortable staying there.We also launched a discussion about the type and quantity of food that should be consumed. These conversations enabled my client to improve the quality of the accommodation and provide a better system of transporting food so that drivers didn’t have to rely on take aways or steak, egg and chips from the local pub.

Talk to your off-site staff to understand what they experience and what they need. It’s an opportunity to give them some guidance about healthy habits and to ensure that they are experiencing the standard of care you believe you are providing.

How can Safewise help?

WELCOME

We have been in Level 3 for a week now. Many people in our country have returned to the workplace, some of our children have returned to school/childcare. This change has meant yet another adjustment that we have had to make in our lives. How are you coping?

For those of you who have not visited our website in the last week, you would not have seen the latest addition to our page. There is now a Covid-19 section where we add information about the different levels, resources that we have created to help your business transition through these levels as well as links that we feel may be relevant to assist you through this time. This information is also shared to our Facebook page and our new Instagram page. Click the links below to take you directly to our pages.

WE JOINED INSTAGRAM!

Safewise is now on Instagram. We would love it if you could follow us! Just search safewisenz or click the link at the bottom of this newsletter.

FACEBOOK DRAWING COMPETITION WINNER - OLIVE MOONEY (AGE 5 YEARS)

Olive says her Dad keeps her safe. Here her drawing of him. Congratulations, Olive. It’s a great picture of your Dad!

MEET THE TEAM

Client Services and Sales Assistant

Sara currently fills the role of Client Services and Sales Assistant,

Have you ever come across roadworks and been confused by the traffic management? Maybe the gaps between the cones are large enough for a vehicle to move between, maybe there are conflicting arrows, maybe there doesn’t appear to be any reason for them. The risk of a vehicle incident is much higher when the traffic management plan appears confusing – both for the road users and for the road workers. Your workplace can be just as confusing and high-risk, particularly if people are new to the site. There are three aspects to traffic management in a workplace: the site, the vehicles or machines, and the people. Improving safety at the site means looking at the layout of the site, its purpose, and the way it is used. Some issues to consider include: is the site methodically laid out? Is the speed limit clearly displayed? You may need to consider speed bumps or other means to slow traffic. Are traffic areas separate so that machinery such as forklifts is separate from the trucks? Is the staff car parking clear of the operating area? Can visitors easily identify parking and is it away from the operating area? A one-way system of traffic flow is always best as the traffic flow is predictable and requires no, or less, reversing. Are walkways clearly marked? Line marking them works well, so does using other objects, such as cones, barriers, even planter boxes. Consider the vehicles or machines. Are they fit for purpose? Think about the visibility of the machines – lights, beepers, colour, etc. Can the workflow be set up to reduce the number of interactions between vehicles, machines and people?

People need to be aware of what the traffic movements are like in the workplace; for example, are they likely to be crossing paths with trucks or forklifts? They need to understand the safe locations to stand when loading and unloading is taking place. Induction of staff, contractors and relevant visitors is important. Staff need to be aware of their surroundings and what is expected of them. Creating and documenting a traffic management plan is a wise option. Involve management and workers. This will allow the traffic management plan to be considered from all aspects and will result in a better plan and increased compliance. Review it at regular intervals to ensure it still fits the workplace. Any change in the work may require a change in the traffic management plan. Planning traffic movements is an easy step towards keeping people safe.

How can Safewise help?

WELCOME

Wow, what a surreal feeling this is. It is totally different from what we thought April would look like a month ago! Currently, we are in a nationwide lock down for at least four weeks. This is New Zealand's way to stop the spread of Covid-19 and our best chance at keeping as many Kiwi's as possible safe and healthy and minimise the impact.

Throughout this lockdown period, we have and will be a lot more active on our Facebook page. This is how we will keep you updated with tips and information that will assist in keeping you, your team and your family healthy, safe and connected not only physically but mentally. This information is also being added to our website. Click the links below to take you directly to our Facebook page and website.

WORKING FROM HOME

Working from home will be new to many people during this time, so here are a few ergonomic tips on how to set up your work space at home: • Ensure that the top of your monitor or laptop screen is at eye level which will help to prevent neck and back strain • Put your arm out in front of you, you should be able to just touch your screen. Adjust how far away your screen is to prevent leaning forward and straining your back • Keep your knees, hips and elbows at a 90 degree angle as much as possible when sitting • Sit upright with your head in a line with your shoulders and hips Keep your keyboard and mouse close to prevent over-stretching • If needed, place a thin pillow on your seat to help make the chair more comfortable • Most importantly, keep moving. Take regular breaks, make a coffee, got for a walk in the garden, stretch your legs. Sitting in the same position all day can lead to back, neck and shoulder pain. Our bodies are made to move.

MEET THE TEAM

HOLLY BLYTH Compliance Assistant - BMS Holly joined the Safewise team as our Compliance Assistant. In 2018 Holly completed a Bachelor of Business Management with a major in Human Resource Management through the University of Waikato. Through her degree Holly realised that she had a passion for health and safety and is developing a good understanding of the sector's principles through her role at Safewise. In her position as Compliance Assistant Holly is required to keep up to date with industry changes to ensure we are providing the most current and relevant information to all our clients.

FUN FOR THE KIDS

Water and Climate Change

Water is our most precious resource in New Zealand, but we take for granted that fresh, clean water will always be available. The 22nd of March 2020 is World Water Day. This is an annual event run by UN-Water, the entity that co-ordinates the United Nations' work on water and sanitation. This year’s theme is ‘Nature and Climate Change’ and will focus on how water and climate change are inextricably linked. In New Zealand, changes in climate – such as high temperature and rainfall – are already occurring. These changes will occur to different extents across New Zealand throughout this century and beyond. As a company, are you prepaid with these changes? Here at Safewise we can assist with some recommendations. Things to do when working in hot weather:

Up your fluid intake. Try to avoid soft or caffeinated drinks.

Take regular breaks.When working outside workers should be provide with ultraviolet exposure, such as, a wide brimmed hat, loose fitting, long sleeved, collared (preferably cotton) shirt, long pants, sunscreen and sunglasses.Air conditioners or coolers to reduce air temperature and generate air movement.Keeping people away from hot processes.Make use of mechanical aids to reduce physical exertion.

What to do during a flood?

Buddy up, do not enter a flood area alone. Stay together and use each as security.Do not cross a flooded river or fast flowing water.Do not enter any water that you can see the water is flowing.Move to higher ground.

What is a Health & Safety Representative (HSR)?

An HSR is a worker who is elected or selected for this role, who represent the health and safety interests of workers within their workgroup for a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU).

WorkSafe conducted an online survey to find out the motivations, experiences and challenges of HSRs in New Zealand. It also investigates ways of improving the support provided to HSRs in order to help them better perform their duties. Follow the link below to see the results of the survey.https://worksafe.govt.nz/research/health-and-safety-representatives-in-new-zealand/

MEET THE TEAM

Chantelle Voigt Chantelle joined our team in February 2020, after relocating with her family to New Zealand from South Africa. Chantelle has experience in a variety of sectors. She worked on a coal mine for 2 years as a Health and Safety Advisor. She then moved on to work for an electrical engineering and civil construction company where she fulfilled the role of Junior Health and Safety Manager for 5 years working with major State-Owned Entities as Eskom, Transnet and Local Municipalities. Chantelle is an energetic young lady who is confident about the work that she does. She is hard working and passionate about working with people.

Interactive - March Crossword

Use the clues below to complete the crossword, once completed email to client.services@safewise.co.nz and the first three with the correct answers will receive a surprise price.

WELCOME

Things have started to pick up now here at Safewise, our regular safety meetings with our management clients along with audits, reviews and new systems have our consultants and support team off to a busy start for 2020. It's hot! February is the hottest month of the year for us so it is important that we watch out for heatstroke and remember that people's sleep is most likely affected. Heat can affect people's concentration which can lead to mistakes or accidents. Here are a couple of tips to help manage working in the heat:

Regardless of working inside or out, remember to up your fluid intake and take regular breaks.Use air conditioners where possible to reduce temperature and top generate air flow. When working outside, employees should be provided with ultraviolet protection, such as, sunscreen, sunglasses, wide brimmed hats and loose fitting and long sleeved clothing (preferably cotton).Take breaks in cool, shady areas away from the direct sun.

CORONAVIRUS INFORMATION

The world has been stunned at the sudden and massive spread of the Coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large and diverse family of viruses which includes the common cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). In January, officials identified a new coronavirus called Novel Coronavirus also known as 2019-nCOV. Symptoms include fever, coughing and difficulty breathing. Difficulty breathing can be a sign of pneumonia and requires immediate medical attention. We don’t yet know how long symptoms take to show after a person has been infected, but current World Health Organisation) WHO assessments suggest that it is 2–10 days. 2019-nCoV is most likely spread through:

a cough or sneezeclose personal contactcontact with an object or surface with viral particles on it (then touching your mouth, nose or eyes).

The Ministry of Health has a dedicated 0800 number for health advice and information regarding Novel Coronavirus. The number is 0800 358 5453 - it is free to call and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. *this information has been sourced from the Ministry of Health website. Visit https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov if you would like more information or to follow the regular updates. This includes actions you can be taking if you or a family member may have been exposed to the Coronavirus.

CONTRACTOR MANAGEMENT

A few weeks ago, WorkSafe issued a media release reminding businesses to ensure any contractor that you are using is competent to perform the task they are contracted to complete.

This message was prompted after a Auckland company, contracted a business to perform forestry-type work. The workers who were completing the tree felling were not qualified and had no experience in carrying out jobs of this size. Unfortunately, an accident occurred where one of the workers was seriously injured when a tree fell on him. The Auckland based company who hired the contractor to perform the task was ordered to pay $35,000 in reparation but escaped a fine. Each of our health and safety systems has a contractor management section along with the required forms to ensure you're meeting your obligations under the Health and Safety At Work Act 2015. If you have any queries or would like some assistance regarding your contractor management, feel free to contact us on 0800 SAFEWISE or click the link below to send Sara an email.

MEET THE TEAM

Michelle OosthuizenOffice Manager - BA

Michelle is a very energetic and hardworking team member with a wide range of experience. In 2011 she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Development and Management and went on to work for the provincial government in the Northern Cape in South Africa. There she started in a Human Resource graduate programme and went on to become the Executive Assistant to the Head of Department for the Department of Social Development, Northern Cape Provincial Government.

In 2013, Michelle relocated and found herself working in a training company for trades, where she increasingly played a role in the health and safety practices by supporting the health and safety practitioners, learners and other staff members. She joined Safewise in May 2018 where her commitment and work ethic has already made a difference.

She has always looked after her own health by leading an active lifestyle and knows what a big difference good health and safety practices makes not just at work, but at home as well.

WELCOME

Happy New Year! The team at Safewise hope you all had a happy and safe summer break and that both yourself and colleagues have returned well rested as we know most of you had busy ends to 2019.

WHAT'S NEW

In 2020, NZTA will be building eight new weigh stations throughout the country and refurbish four existing weigh stations in order to better regulate and penalise overloaded trucks on New Zealand roads. In addition to the stations, scales will be built into the road and plate recognition cameras installed which will share the data, giving the vehicle limits before the truck will then be indicated to pull over. The technology upgrade will allow the compliant truck drivers to continue on their journey and will only indicate for the overloaded trucks to pull over (though the roadside sign can be adjusted for random logbook and other compliance checks). While trucks are only a small portion of vehicles on new Zealand roads, statistic show that trucks are involved in a larger percentage of accidents. This upgrade will allow NZTA and NZ Police to target safety in a much more efficient manor.

To celebrate the new year we are celebrating all successful new system referrals with a free driver pack or up to 5 free work station assessments*

Contact us with their details or have your friends or family contact us through Facebook, email clientservices@safewise.co.nz or call 0800 SAFEWISE and tell us who referred them and we will make contact with you to arrange a drivers pack or work station assessment(s)

*note, the work station assessments need to be local to the Waikato, Auckland or Tauranga, Rotorua and Whakatane regions

MEET THE TEAM

Laura Etz

Consultant - BSocSci, DipOSH, GradNZISM

Laura has been employed in her role as health and safety Consultant at Safewise for 5 years. Prior to joining us at Safewise she worked as a Recruitment Consultant, where she was responsible for ensuring health and safety procedures and polices were implemented effectively, as well as leading the audit process for WSMP. Laura is tertiary qualified and experienced in both health and Safety and Human Resources and as a result is able to offer practical and effective solutions to her clients. She is HASANZ registered and is an active member of the New Zealand institute of Safety Management (NZISM) and HRINZ. Laura ensures she is up to date with all relevant changes in the health and safety sector. She is passionate about worker well being and ensuring health and safety is an integrated part of her clients business.

Work is a busy place. Everyone has a job to do and that job must be done. Even people who love their work look forward to a break. Those of us lucky enough to close at the end of the year anticipate two or three weeks in the sun. In the meantime, we count the weeks until the next long weekend; the gap from Queen’s Birthday to Labour Day seems very long. The summer months are full of activity: socialising, gardening and generally being around people and in the outdoors. Winter is an entirely different story. It’s often dark when we go to work and dark when we get home. Our spirits are lower in winter; we are more inclined to get sick. How can we manage this?

Annual leave In New Zealand we are lucky to have four weeks annual leave. Even with a three-week closing over Christmas and New Year, that leaves nine days annual leave. Workers may take a day here and there, but it’s not uncommon for leave to accumulate. This is not great, in either employee management or health and safety terms. The organisation can be left owing an employee a lot of money – not great for cash flow. More importantly, annual leave is designed to give workers a chance to rest, to relax away from the weekly effort of work. It lets us spend quality time with our families and friends, take trips and do things that we don’t do during a normal working week. Managers or owners need to work with employees to ensure annual leave is taken in full each year (unless other arrangements are agreed to).

Sick leave It is frustrating when people are off sick. However, there is a high risk of more people becoming ill if the sick people come to work. Generally, their work is not as good as normal; who can think properly when their head is sore, and they are having trouble breathing. Recovery is slower, and the worker is more likely to relapse because they didn’t allow time. Managers are much better off encouraging sick people to stay home and recover fully. It makes good health and safety – and business – sense to manage leave. Ensure workers take their allocated annual leave. Encourage them to stay at home if they are sick. Consider wellbeing actions to limit the likelihood of sickness: a bowl of fruit and hand sanitiser are good places to start.

How can Safewise help?

The sun is shining – most of the time – the days are longer, we are thinking about Christmas plans and holidays. At the same time we are mentally winding down – perhaps – workloads are increasing for many of us.

The time of year brings happiness at the improved weather and the thought of summer and a break. It also brings more work pressure to get everything done well, and in a timely manner. This work pressure combined with the additional financial pressure of Christmas and holidays can become quite stressful for some people.

While managers cannot control a worker’s stress outside the workplace, they can, and should, be managing the work so that it creates as little stress as possible. This means planning journeys so that there is limited backtracking and adequate time to allow for delays. Loads must be planned so that the order is correct, and that all goods are compatible. Drivers, and other workers, must take their breaks and remain within legal hours. Communication is key to successfully managing busy times. Although it can be challenging to have meetings, they pay off by all parties understanding the work activities. A manager who knows his or her workers will be able to notice early signs of stress; changes in timekeeping, work performance, short tempers, etc. These should be addressed as soon as possible to help the worker, and to make him or her safer at work. While the manager may not be able to assist with personal problems, they may be able to make allowances at work to accommodate the worker’s needs. This may be adapting a worker’s hours or duties, allowing them time off to meet with external support agencies, etc. It is important to be guided by the worker, taking into account the needs of the business.

Stress is a very complicated issue. It may arise from a single source or from many sources. In my experience, people tend to blame their stress on the one thing they have control over. For example, a person having relationship problems may blame the hours of work. Stress,dealt with quickly, is relatively easily managed. This must be done with sensitivity and consideration, with all conversations documented.

How can Safewise help?

Last week I was asked to meet with an organisation to talk about providing health and safety support to them. This happens frequently, which is just as well, or I wouldn’t have a business. Why am I writing about this meeting – what was different about it? The difference is that I had first spoken to them a few years ago. Three years ago, we had almost the same conversation. I told them what Safewise could do to support them and they talked about being able to do it themselves. That was the option they chose.

At the time they considered doing it themselves was a cost-effective way to develop and run their health and safety system. There is nothing wrong with developing your own health and safety system. It can be more cost-effective, and it can work very well. There is a lot of information available to assist organisations to do this. You can download the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and you can download templates and forms. You can even download an entire hazard risk register.

What you can’t download is experience, time and knowledge. This organisation had written a reasonably good health and safety system. It was very long and had confused some aspects of the old Health and Safety in Employment Act and the current Health and Safety at Work Act, but overall it was adequate.

What wasn’t adequate was the implementation of the system. The person charged with running health and safety had it tacked onto the end of an already full role. This person had limited knowledge of health and safety and didn’t really know how to drive it, how to excite people about it, how to make it part of the way they work.

Using a consultant can help in all these areas. A good consultant should be able to work with you to help you get the best outcome for your organisation. Maybe they write the system, maybe they provide training, maybe they are a back-up to what you are doing. A good consultant should have qualifications, experience and belong to a health and safety organisation, such as the NZ Institute of Safety Management (NZISM), and, preferably, be on the Health and Safety Association of NZ (HASANZ) register. They should also be someone you connect with.

Go it alone or use a professional – it’s your choice. Remember that a robust, well-implemented health and safety system will save you downtime from injuries or damage. It will ensure you have a plan to stop things going wrong, but will also have a plan for managing the things that do go wrong.

How can Safewise help?We work with organisations that need more health and safety knowledge, or more time, than they have in-house. For more information, check the website.

This is one of the most frequent statements I hear: health and safety is just common sense. But is this true?

WorkSafe New Zealand put out a media release recently about a driver who was watering a track. He was travelling at low speed. He allowed two young boys, around 10 years old, to climb on and over the tanker truck as it was moving along. One of the boys fell off and was badly injured.

No doubt the driver thought the kids were just having an adventure, and how bad could it be if they fell off when he was driving slowly. Unfortunately, he, and the boy found out.

I admit that I have done things that, in hindsight, probably were not well thought through, as I am sure we all have. WorkSafe said that we need to look at all hazards and risks, not just the obvious ones. Research shows that people are aware of the biggest hazards but they are often injured by the small hazards they don’t even think about. For instance, electricity workers suffer from sprained ankles because of the uneven ground they are walking on, but seldom from electric shock. In fact, uneven ground is often not identified as a hazard, despite it being a major cause of injury.

Another example of a serious lack of common sense occurred on one of my client’s sites. The owner asked her contract cleaner to clean the rubber non-slip edging on her stairs. The cleaner presumably wanted them to shine so used silicone. This could have had serious consequences, but the cleaner didn’t think past the appearance of his work.

Common sense is based on a person’s life experiences and learnings. There may be a collective common sense within a business among the workers who are trained and experienced. However, not everyone has the same level of understanding. Not everyone will be aware of the potential consequences of their actions.

Stop, take the time to think about what you are doing, think about what could go wrong, think about the outcomes of your actions; often controlling a hazard will create another hazard. Think about other people and what they know, and what they probably don’t know. Health and safety isn’t about being the fun police. It’s about everyone going home at the end of the day.

How can Safewise help?

We work with organisations who need more health and safety knowledge, or more time, than they have in house. For more information, check the website.

WorkSafe NZ put out a media release on 23rd August 2017 containing the details of the first sentencing following a prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA). This has taken a long time as WorkSafe now have 12 months to decide if they are going to lay a prosecution, rather than the six months under the old act.

The incident occurred on the 6th April 2016, two days after the new legislation was enacted. A worker had his hand caught as he fed product into a machine. He lost most of his fingers. The guarding on the machine had been identified as faulty six weeks prior and nothing had been done.

WorkSafe NZ proposed $900,000.00 as an appropriate starting point for the fine. The judge considered that a range between $400,000 and $600,000 was more fitting the level of culpability. Taking various factors into account, the judge set the final range between $210,000 and $315,000. The fine was set at around $275,000 but was reduced to $100,000 based on the organisation’s ability to pay. Prior to 4th April 2016, under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, fines for this type of incident sat between $30,000 and $40,000.

This fine is a significant increase, and shows, very clearly, the government’s intention to hold organisations to account. The headline in the WorkSafe media release is “Take Immediate Action to Manage Known Risks”. It will not be acceptable to ignore identified hazards or risks.

I was asked if it would have been better to not identify the risk. The answer to this is an emphatic no! HSWA is very clear that we must understand and manage the hazards and risks in our organisations. Failing to check for hazards or risks, or failing to acknowledge them would be against all principles of the act. We must undertake inspections and reviews to ensure that our building, plant and equipment is in good working order, that any required safety features are in place and are working, and that regular maintenance is being undertaken. We must also make sure that all standard operating procedures (SOPs) are current, and that workers are trained to use the plant and equipment correctly, and safely.

How can Safewise help?

We work with organisations who need more health and safety knowledge, or more time, than they have in house. For more information, check the website.

WorkSafe New Zealand have just released the first sentencing under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. This was for a machinery guarding incident; a worker had his hand caught, and lost most of his fingers.

The company had identified a problem with the guarding six weeks prior to the incident, but had not taken any action towards fixing it. The fine was $100,000 which is an increase from $30,000 to $40,000 under the old Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. The fine was reduced from $275,000 based on the organisation’s ability to pay.

WorkSafe NZ said that identifying and listing hazards and risks is not sufficient. Organisations must act quickly to control the risk to the workers. In some cases, this may mean taking the machine out of service until it is fixed; it may involve special training or other equipment.

Recently, I was asked if not identifying or listing hazards and risks would be a better option. It would not! Organisations have a duty to know about and manage the hazards in the workplace. Ignorance of, or ignoring them is not acceptable, and would incur a considerable fine.

The best answer is to undertake regular maintenance, and reviews of your plant, equipment and processes to ensure that the hazards have been identified, the risks controlled and everything is being done safely.

How can Safewise help?

We work with organisations who need more health and safety knowledge, or more time, than they have in house. For more information, check the website.

I’ve been to a few training sessions recently where people are talking about work as it is done. Traditionally, health and safety has been based on fear, problems, and, sometimes, blame. Health and safety has had an image of being the “fun police”, not about people. It would be fair to say that putting rules in place and insisting on compliance is the starting point for most companies, especially those who are just starting the health and safety journey. There is a place for this type of health and safety.

Once the basic health and safety structure is in place, it can be time to move on to the next level. There are a few key points to having a great health and safety culture, but, it all starts with people. Recognising people (workers) are responsible, want to do the job as well as they can, and want to go home safely, allows everyone to work together safely and effectively.

Start by recognising that work is changeable and seldom goes the way we expect. There are changes every day. These can include weather, customer demands, worker illness, breakdowns, etc. When work or work conditions change, workers will modify their actions so that the work gets done. Management may not realise this is happening, particularly if the outcome is what is expected. When we expect widgets and get widgets, we tend not to look at how the widgets were produced.

By visiting the workplace, and talking to the workers we can see, and hear what is actually happening. Asking questions such as “tell me about a job that went well. What made it go well” and “tell me about a job that didn’t go as well as expected. What made it not go well?” will give management a lot of answers. It also makes the workers feel engaged in the process of work, and safety.

Take the time to listen, and walk around. Give workers feedback on their suggestions, recognise their contributions, and give them a sense of pride and belonging. The workplace will become a place people want to be at, pride in their work will increase resulting in more quality and less downtime. It may require a change in attitude and some perseverance but it will pay off in the long run.

How can Safewise help?

We work with organisations who need more health and safety knowledge, or more time, than they have in house. For more information, check the website.

Recently WorkSafe NZ announced that there had been seven workers killed at work, in a three-week period. At least two were forklift related; one involved a swing lift.

It would be very easy to say that each of these people were in a place they shouldn’t have been, and that would probably be true. But, it is just the smallest part of the answer. It’s like saying wearing a hi viz vest will save your life. It will make you more visible, but it won’t make the injury less if you are hit or caught by machinery.

I have no inside information about these incidents, and am not making comment regarding any one of them. However, some basic rules apply:

Have a person in charge. Often this is the machinery operator but the important thing is that everyone knows who this person is.Remove people who are not necessary for the activity.Have a plan. Spend a few minutes discussing the activity. Identify the hazards and risks and put a plan in place to control them. Ensure that everyone knows and understands their role, including where they must be.Agree on communication. Make sure that the hand signals, or whatever means of communication you are using, is clearly understood by all people.STOP. If you can’t see someone who should be there, or who was in the area, stop operations until you know they are safe.

Job Safety Analysis (JSA) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

A few years ago, a JSA was almost unheard of in smaller business; it was a tool used by large contractors. Smaller business used a hazard ID but, generally, nothing as complex as a JSA. This has changed and a JSA is expected in many situations. A JSA is a step by step analysis of the health and safety risks of an activity. It allows managers and workers to plan an activity safely. It can be completed by any person, with knowledge of the activity, but must be reviewed, discussed, and signed off by relevant workers before the activity begins. It must include site-specific hazards and risks. Used in conjunction with an SOP, there should be enough information to provide the workers with the safe, and efficient, method of carrying out the activity. JSAs and SOPs are similar in that they outline the activity step-by-step. However, a JSA is a hazard/risk assessment tool, while a SOP explains how an activity is done. Use these tools for hazardous activities.

My thoughts are with the families, friends and colleagues of each of these workers.

How can Safewise help?

We work with organisations who need more health and safety knowledge, or more time, than they have in house. We can assist setting up SOPs or JSAs working closely with those who execute the tasks.

As business owners, or managers, there are a few things that can keep us awake at night: paying the bills, having enough work, having too much work, and our workers having an accident. Accidents do happen, our job is to put systems in place to prevent them.

One way we can do this is by investigating all accidents. This includes accidents which result in injury, and those that result in property damage. It’s also essential that we investigate near misses. These are a golden opportunity to identify a risk and correct it before damage or injury occurs.

The level of investigation will depend on the accident. Sometimes, a talk between the manager, or foreman, and the worker is sufficient. Sometimes, a full-blown investigation is needed. There are times when an independent, or qualified person is needed.

The Basic Steps

There are some basic steps which should be followed regardless of the level of the investigation:

Look at the accident site; take a lot of photos.

Talk to the people involved, including any witnesses. Try to confirm evidence by finding two sources of information. I always ask, what was different this time, what would you do differently next time, what do you think would stop it happening again?

Look further back than the accident. It probably started well before the actual event

Check over plant and equipment to identify any malfunctions; and that it is still fit for use following the accident.

Putting it Together

Once we have all the information, we need to put it together to understand the timeline, and flow of the accident. This will help us understand what really went wrong.

It is very easy to blame the involved worker(s). It is true that the accident wouldn’t have happened without the people, but we lose a chance to improve our business by doing this. Workers make mistakes, or take shortcuts, all the time. The systems we put in place prevent these actions being harmful. So, in an accident investigation, we are looking for the system that needs to be fixed, modified or created. Telling people not to do things never works. Changing the boundaries they operate within, will make a difference.

Once we identify the systems that need improving, we must create an action plan. This should include a person who is accountable, and a timeframe. It is good practice to have a senior manager sign off when it is completed.

How can Safewise help?

We work with organisations who need more health and safety knowledge, or more time, than they have in house.

The NZ Herald recently had a couple of articles about a car versus a bus accident in Te Anau. The first photo I saw was the burnt wreck of both vehicles. However, the second article I saw showed the vehicles fully alight, flames leaping high, and black smoke filling the sky. The article read that the man inside the car was screaming for help. Around the same time, there was a fatal car versus train incident near Matamata.

The photos, and story, about the Te Anau accident appalled me. There will be many people who see, and read, that article who are connected with the victims. These may be family, friends and work mates. The trauma of knowing a person has been burnt alive is huge, but becomes insignificant when the imagined becomes the reality, thanks to the photos. I know a person who was one of the first on the scene at the train incident.

These are two examples of trauma which may not be work related. Regardless of this, as responsible employers or managers, we need to manage these situations. A worker who is traumatised is not going to be a safe, or productive, worker.

One of the first things we can do is have an organisational culture which encourages workers to tell us when things are affecting them. Let them know that it’s okay to speak up, and they won’t be judged or ridiculed for “being soft”.

Be clear about who workers can talk to. This may be their direct supervisor, or the health and safety, or HR manager, depending on the organisation.

Workers need to be told that it is their responsibility to speak up, if they are suffering from trauma. They need to understand that their managers are not mind-readers and will not automatically know that the worker is having a problem.

In the event of a workplace trauma, particularly a significant trauma, there will be a lot of options for worker support. Similar steps can be put in place for non-work related trauma. These can include giving them a person to talk to, assisting with finding counselling, giving them some time off. Possibly, a driver who has witnessed an horrific crash may benefit from having another driver with them for a period of time.

As employers and managers, we can offer support, but it is up to the worker to accept it. Some workers will respond better to different types of support than others. It is in everyone’s best interests to listen to, and support, workers.

How can Safewise help?

Our consultants can talk to employers and employees to help find the best solution to any concerns in your workplace. Whether this is before, after, or unrelated to a trauma event, we will do our best to maintain a safe and efficient working environment for all.

Recently I undertook site audits for a client who is helping with the Edgecumbe disaster recovery. It was very interesting to see the damage, and the clean-up which is underway. It was also heart breaking looking at the mess - the damaged houses were somebody’s pride and joy.

Whilst I was in Edgecumbe, I heard a lot of people saying that no one could have predicted the floods. That may be true, but, as business owners or managers we should be identifying the potential emergencies that could occur in our business, and putting an action plan in place to manage them. There will be some standard emergencies, such as falls, medical events and fire. There will also be business specific emergencies, e.g. working in confined spaces. However, we need to think about natural disasters.

What would we do if a disaster struck? How will we care for our workers? How will we know remote workers are safe? Do we have sufficient supplies to survive if we can’t leave our work premises?

Something to think about…

There are many things that an employer or manager does to ensure the safety of their workers; remember that workers include contractors, sub-contractors and other people. Some of these things are:

Despite all this, our workers still get hurt, or do the task without paying due attention to safety or quality.

Nothing beats looking. One of the best tools in our safety toolbox is our eyes. Site reviews, and talking to the workers on the job, are very powerful tools. This allows us to identify work being done well, work being done not so well, and any problems on site. It doesn’t matter if the site is construction or transport, etc. There will always be a place or task we can look at.

Recently, I was on a construction site. I had visited this site weekly for a few weeks prior to this incident. The organisation is very reputable and takes working safely seriously. On none of my previous visits had I identified any major problems. This visit we saw a worker using a concrete saw without water, without a mask, and without hearing protection. We contacted the site manager immediately who addressed the situation instantly. The worker only had a small job to do and decided to do it without following proper procedure; he believed that it would take longer to do it safely. Clearly, people will take short cuts if they think they will get away with it.

The second step is to act. If you identify anything wrong, you must address it at once. If it is left, you send a message that it’s okay to take shortcuts. That you will only address concerns once the job is done. If you identify concerns, you should follow up to make sure the correct actions have been taken, and that the concern is not recurring.

How can Safewise help?

A new premises and a new addition to our staff have made March an extremely entertaining month for us here at Safewise!

Our New Place

We have moved to a fantastic new location at 1134 (Unit 1) Victoria Street, Hamilton. Feel free to come and see the new digs and welcome Doug to the team!

Meet Doug Machado

Doug joined the Safewise team as our administrator at the end of February 2017. Giving us a bit of diversity with his South American background, Doug will be helping all our lovely clients with their systems, along with improving our own.

More about Doug >>

Congratulations!

In addition to supporting people with disabilities in our community, ConneXu has recently just been awarded a secondary level accreditation in WSMP - a fantastic achievement to all involved! A true star among our Safewise clients!

In other news..

If we can make your month a bit more entertaining with a safety meeting or two, please get in touch

PCBUs

PCBU means person conducting a business or undertaking. This is the entity of the business, so Safewise is a PCBU. It is not a person unless the business is a sole trader. The current act says the employer must provide a safe place of work but in the new Health and Safety at Work 2015 Act the PCBU has the primary duty of care for the health and safety of workers and others in the workplace. As far as is reasonably practicable they must:

Provide and maintain safe plant and structuresProvide and maintain safe systems of workProvide safe use, handling and storage of plant, substances and structuresProvide access to adequate facilitiesProvide information, training and supervision Monitor the health of workers and the conditions of the workplace to prevent injury or illness

Accommodation provided to workers that is owned or managed by the PCBU because other accommodation is not reasonably available must be in good condition.

If you are self-employed and have no workers you are still a PCBU; you are responsible for your own health and safety while at work.

Specific responsibilities for PCBUs who design, manufacture, install plant, substances and structures.

The PCBU is required to ensure that any fixtures, fittings, plant, substance or structure is fit for task and without risks to the health and safety of any person. The PCBU must identify and inform the user of any hazard or risk, and the means of controlling these.

How can Safewise help?Safewise can help you determine and manage the roles and responsibilities that you and your workers have in your organisation. We work with numerous business, big and small, helping them achieve safer places of work.

If you would like help with the health and safety aspect of your business, or have any questions, please get in touch.

Summer is the favourite season for many of us. We love the long days, the hot weather and the chance to be outside. Whether socialising or working in the garden, summer is fun.

Last year, summer was incredibly hot, and workers were becoming tired and distracted by the middle of the afternoon.

Safewise would, on average, investigate two serious harm (now notifiable events) incidents a year for our clients. Last summer there were four in January alone.

Each of these involved different industries, different number of workers, and different outcomes. What they had in common was the temperature, the length of the workers’ shifts, and their return to work after a holiday.

As an employer, I ensure my workers have a reasonable break over the Christmas period. We take three weeks off, and there are a lot of long weekends at the beginning of the year. I expect my workers to come back refreshed, enthusiastic and ready to work. They do, but they also come back thinking about the time spent at the beach, the parties or family gatherings, and wishing it had lasted a bit longer. Sometimes they are focused on the next long weekend and getting back to the beach.

As PCBUs we need to take reasonably practicable steps to keep our workers safe and that includes their mental and physical states. We often ignore workers’ mental states, but a distracted worker is a dangerous worker. Spend time with your workers to ensure their minds are on the job. Go over your instructions and ask them to describe the processes they will be taking. If this is a new task, or one they have little experience with, think about refresher training.

The physical state of a worker is much easier to manage. Ensure they are protected from the weather with sunscreen and sunhats, but also they keep hydrated. Make cold water available to them, and plan the work so they are not outside, or making complex decisions, in the hottest part of the day.

Distraction and fatigue are two leading causes of accidents. A little consideration of the workers’ needs goes a long way towards preventing accidents. It will also give you a worker who is happy to be back..

How can Safewise Help?

Whether it's offering advise to maintain the safety and morale of your staff, or investigating a notifiable event, our consultants will do their best to ensure the safe and efficient running of your organisation. For information on how we can help you, contact us.

There is a lot to think about when we are working. We need to be sure that we are doing the job to the best of our abilities: quality, efficiency, and safely. Often we are focused on the task and presume that other people around us are aware of how and what we are doing.. However, this is not always the case. It is easy to assume that, because we understand our job very well, other people have the same knowledge. This is seldom the case. It can help to know what types of people are present. If you are delivering product to a construction site, you should be inducted and given information about the site. This would indicate that the other people on the site are aware of what work is being carried out, and the potential risks to them.

If you are delivering or collecting from a farm as another example, there is more likelihood that there will be people on site who need supervision. This may include children.

In either case, there could be people who are new to the task, or who are visitors. These people may not understand how hazardous your task is. They may assume that a tipper truck will never roll over, or a load never falls off the far side when unloading with a forklift, or that the dust or noise you are will not impact on them.

As the person carrying out the task, you are responsible for the safety of yourself and those around you. Before starting work, make sure everyone in the same area is aware of what you are going to do. Make sure they understand the no-go areas or the PPE (personal protective equipment) they must wear. If you need their help, be very clear that they know what you expect of them. Go over the process as many times as necessary. Establish the communication method you will use. Practice the hand signals. Check they have the correct PPE and they know how to use it. Obviously, the more often you work with a person, the more you will trust their understanding.

Look at each task as a new situation and be sure that the health and safety of yourself and others is the first thing you do. Stop and review this at any time you lose sight of the other people, or if you change the process, or if something doesn’t feel right.

How can Safewise help?Here at Safewise, we have experienced and skilled consultants who are able to advise on carrying out your day to day tasks safely and efficiently.

Whether its on a construction site, a farm, or in an office, we are able to offer personalised services to help ensure the safety of your work place. For more information, contact us.

People talk a lot about the work–life balance, but what does it mean? Life cannot be divided up into equal parcels of time, or commitment; half my life will be spent working and half my life will be my own. The world is not that simplistic.

We all need to work, unless we are lucky enough to have won Lotto. Sometimes our work will dominate our lives. For me, this year has been a lot about work. Safewise has been busy with the demand created by the implementation of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. This has impacted significantly on my ability to interact with my family and my friends. When this happens for a short term, or a defined period, we can cope. We work hard, and then we pick up the pieces of our lives and move on.

Other times, our personal lives will take priority. This may be due to the arrival of a new baby, or a sick parent, for example. The important thing is that we communicate with the people in our lives, our family and our friends, or our boss or fellow workers. We let them know that we have demands on our time, and what we would like from them.

However, there can be a major impact on the health and safety at work when a worker has some personal issues. These may be happy or sad, but they take the worker’s concentration away, creating a risk of inattention resulting in an accident. Getting to know your workers can help prevent accidents. Workers do not need to tell you the full details of their life, but they will appreciate the support you can provide.

How can Safewise help?

Last month we discussed reasonably practicable steps. The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 talks a lot about doing what is reasonably practicable. It requires that an organisation does what any other organisation would be expected to reasonably do.

Let’s look at an example which can be quite common in the transport industry – overloading. Firstly, we will assume that the transport operator does not want to have overloaded vehicles. Consider what are the ways the vehicles can be overloaded. This may be:

The load is too heavy for the GVM and GCM. The load may be uneven and too heavy for the axle set even if it is within the above limits. This can involve vehicle handling considerations.

Taking each of these points, consider what is reasonably practicable to do.

The load is too heavy for the GVM and GCMDoes the operator/driver know the loading limits of the vehicle? If not, provide some training and be sure that he/she understands what they mean. Does the operator/driver know the weight of the load? This can be assessed in a variety of ways: the load can be weighed on a set of scales in the warehouse; the individual products can be weighed before being loaded onto a pallet; there may be access to a weighbridge; bulk loads can be estimated by knowing the capacity of the loader bucket; the loader bucket may have scales; the truck may have scales; and so on.

The load is unevenDoes the operator/driver know the axle ratings of the vehicle? Do they understand about vehicle dynamics and how to load the vehicle evenly? If not, provide some training and be sure that he/she understands what vehicle dynamics mean; too much load at the rear of the vehicle affects the steering and too much load at the front of the vehicle may cause the rear to lock up. The load must also be even left to right or the vehicle may not corner or stop well. The driver is responsible for the load. He or she needs to give some direction about how the vehicle(s) are loaded. This may mean that the load needs to be moved or redistributed to be within loading limits, and to ensure good handling. Applying reasonably practicable steps is not difficult. It may require some thought, and consideration must be given to every step of the process. There is usually plenty of reference material to support this process. For instance, the New Zealand Truck Loading Code should be used in the above example.

How can Safewise help?We work with organisations that need more health and safety knowledge, or more time, than they have.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 replaced serious harm with notifiable events. The actions we take are the same: look after the people, freeze the scene, and call WorkSafe NZ as soon as possible. However, the definition has been causing a lot of confusion.

A notifiable event means any of the following events that arise as a result of work: • the death of a person; or • a notifiable injury or illness; or • a notifiable incident.

(Your health and safety manual should contain a full definition.)

Recently, Steve Wong from WorkSafe NZ spoke to the Waikato branch of the New Zealand Institute of Safety Management (NZISM) to clarify the definition. He directed us to the WorkSafe website where there is a useful fact sheet.

Points to NoteThe following are some of the major queries we have had:

How can Safewise help? We are able to help update your health and safety information. For more information, call Safewise Ltd on (078504387), check the website www.safewise.co.nz or email us at office@safewise.co.nz, tracey@safewise.co.nz, or laura@safewise.co.nz

Safeguard magazine (May/June 2016) outlined the workplace death toll from January to the end of April 2016. This has been confirmed by WorkSafe NZ but does not include road, air or maritime deaths. These are counted under different categories. So far there have been 19 workplace fatalities. Nineteen people who are not going home to their families. Families and friends of 19 people who will always have a gap in their lives. Who are they? They are all men, although two are children. One was seven years old and drowned, and the other was three years old and was crushed in a timber yard. The other men range in age from 31 to 74 years of age. This is often a surprise as we tend to think of the young guns being the ones who take risks. It’s important to remember that older people have accidents too. Younger workers are more likely to have accidents because they don’t understand the systems, or the power of the machinery. They may not raise issues but will work within, or find a way around, a system so they can get the job done. Older workers may become complacent and not pay full attention or take shortcuts because they know the job so well. This doesn’t allow for daily variations, which can have a big impact. Older workers do not always adapt well to changes in technology. Also, they start to have physical limitations, such as finding it hard to turn their heads to look behind them. The industries these men worked in ranged from forestry to agriculture, from transport to construction. Many of them were killed by machinery or plant rolling or crushing them.What can we learn?Often the answer to an accident investigation is “they should be more careful” or “we need to do more training”. Being more careful is not a robust health and safety solution. We need to have systems in place that make it easy for a worker to do their job the right way; this makes being more careful unnecessary. Further training can be a great idea but it depends on the training. For instance, what training would you give a truck driver with 20-plus years’ experience? They already know how to drive a truck. Teaching them how to drive will only alienate them and make them resistant to learning. However, if we think outside the normal range of training there are usually options that are helpful. You could set up some fuel efficiency training. This could be set up as a competition to save fuel, which makes it more interesting.

How can Safewise help?Safewise are experienced accident investigators and can help your business with any accident related matters.

Further to this, Safewise offers health and safety mentoring and assistance to help prevent any accidents from occurring.

Safeguard Magazine (May/June 2016) outlined the workplace death toll from January to the end of April 2016. This has been confirmed by WorkSafe NZ but does not include road, air or maritime deaths. These are counted under different categories.

So far there have been 19 workplace fatalities. Nineteen people who are not going home to their families. Families and friends of 19 people who will always have a gap in their lives.

Who are they?

They are all men, although two are children. One was seven years old and drowned, and the other was three years old and was crushed in a timber yard.

The other men range in age from 31 to 74 years of age. This is often a surprise as we tend to think of the young guns being the ones who take risks. It’s important to remember that older people have accidents too. Younger workers are more likely to have accidents because they don’t understand the systems, or the power of the machinery. They may not raise issues but will work within, or find a way around, a system so they can get the job done. Older workers may become complacent and not pay full attention or take shortcuts because they know the job so well. This doesn’t allow for daily variations, which can have a big impact. Older workers do not always adapt well to changes in technology. Also, they start to have physical limitations, such as finding it hard to turn their heads to look behind them. The industries these men worked in ranged from forestry to agriculture, from transport to construction. Many of them were killed by machinery or plant rolling or crushing them.

…this is often a surprise as we tend to think of the young guns being the ones who take risks…

What can we learn?

Often the answer to an accident investigation is “they should be more careful” or “we need to do more training”. Being more careful is not a robust health and safety solution. We need to have systems in place that make it easy for a worker to do their job the right way; this makes being more careful unnecessary. Further training can be a great idea but it depends on the training. For instance, what training would you give a truck driver with 20-plus years’ experience? They already know how to drive a truck. Teaching them how to drive will only alienate them and make them resistant to learning. However, if we think outside the normal range of training there are usually options that are helpful. You could set up some fuel efficiency training. This could be set up as a competition to save fuel, which makes it more interesting.

Let’s talk about some of the urban myths that are being taken as the truth. There has been a lot of panic about the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and it hasn’t been helped by the scaremongering tactics that are being employed by some people. Unfortunately, some of those people are so-called health and safety consultants. If you are intending to use a contractor you should check their skills, experience and qualifications. There are some people taking advantage of the change in legislation to make a quick buck.

I’ve been told:

• We can’t lift more than 20 kilogramsThere is an approved code of practice (ACOP) in place to help you manage manual handling. The ACOP doesn’t state any maximum weight. This is something that needs to be assessed at each workplace and for different situations. The weight depends on other factors: size of the package, shape of the package, how awkward it is pick up or carry, where it is being moved, the posture of the worker and the strength of the worker, etc.

• Mobile scaffolds must be erected by certified peopleMobile scaffolds must be erected by a certified scaffolder if more than five metres high, otherwise, they must be erected by a competent person. A competent person is one who has the skills and knowledge to carry out a particular task (Best Practice Guidelines for Scaffolding in New Zealand).

• The boss will go to jail if a worker is drinking at work and has an accident on the way homeThis has been a problem area for a long time. Friday night drinks are an institution in New Zealand and this doesn’t need to change. What should be in place is a policy about managing drinking. The policy may include: a time-frame for the social event (start and finish time), there is no drinking in the workplace when the boss leaves, a statement that it is not acceptable to drink and drive, a list of contact numbers for alternative transport (taxis, dial a driver and so on). There should be a limited amount of alcohol, as well as soft drinks and food.

• Principals must put their houses in trustsThere are many valid reasons for putting a house in a trust, so I am not suggesting it is a bad idea. However, it is not necessary to do so if the school and principal are taking the correct steps to manage health and safety in the workplace. The school has an obligation to identify hazards and risks and to manage these. In fact, the duty of care has been in place for many years.

• WorkSafe inspectors will come into my homeThis is completely untrue. The act is called the Health and Safety at Work Act for a reason. WorkSafe inspectors may enter your workplace at any time. They have no authority or power to enter your home. Having said that, I am always surprised by the way kiwis do the right thing at work; wear PPE, use guarding and so on, but think it’s okay to do the same job at home in jandals and with no consideration for safety.

How can Safewise help?We are able to help update your health and safety information. For more information call Safewise (07 850 4387), check the website www.safewise.co.nz or email us at office@safewise.co.nz, tracey@safewise. co.nz or laura@safewise.co.nz

*Extract from New Zealand Trucking Magazine 2016

I know this isn’t a work problem for most of you, but it is near to our hearts. We all grew up climbing trees; it’s a rite of passage. There is no need to stop kids climbing trees. However, look at the trees. Make sure they are strong, and cut down any rotten trees. Decide if the branches are strong enough to support the weight of the kids. Look at the ground under the tree. If there is a kerb, concrete or brickwork, consider changing it. It’s okay to tell the kids which trees they can climb and which they can’t.

The situation has become so crazy that WorkSafe chief executive Gordon MacDonald put out a press release headed ‘Keep calm and keep safe’. In it he stated that “If a claim about the impact of the new law sounds far-fetched – then it almost certainly is”.

If you are not sure, ask for help from a reputable consultant such as Safewise Ltd.

*Extract from New Zealand Trucking Magazine June 2016