RECENT NEWS

By Sara Crawford. Winter can bring extra challenges for many workplaces, particularly where workers are outdoors, moving between sites, working early starts, or exposed to cold, wet or windy conditions. Even when temperatures are not extreme, winter weather can affect concentration, visibility, energy levels and overall wellbeing. This can increase the likelihood of mistakes, slips, trips, manual handling injuries, equipment damage and workers taking shortcuts to get the job

As we reach the middle of the year, many New Zealand businesses naturally shift into reflection and planning mode. With Matariki encouraging renewal and forward thinking, it is the perfect time to reset your approach to health and safety management. Rather than treating workplace health and safety as a compliance exercise, a mid-year review gives you the opportunity to check whether your system is actually working for your team. Keep reading for seven practical questions to h

Most businesses treat health & safety as a one-off “We’ve got our policies sorted.” “We did that last year.” These are things we hear often from NZ business owners and managers when health and safety comes up. On the surface, it makes sense. You’ve created documents, completed a risk assessment, and inducted your staff. It feels like a job that has been ticked off the list. But this is where a common misunderstanding comes in. Health and safety is often treated like a checkli

Why “health & safety” feels confusing for many NZ businesses If you run a business in New Zealand, you have probably been told you “need health and safety”. What that actually means, however, is often far less clear. For many business owners and office or operations managers, health and safety feels like a mix of paperwork, policies, templates and vague obligations. You might have a folder of documents, or something a previous manager put together years ago, but still feel un

Contractors, subcontractors, and visitors are part of everyday operations for many New Zealand businesses. From maintenance teams and consultants to delivery drivers and installers, there are often people working on site who are not part of your core team. That is exactly why contractor induction is such an important part of workplace H&S. A proper induction helps ensure everyone understands the risks, knows what is expected of them, and can work safely while on your site. It

Running a small business in New Zealand means wearing many hats. Health and safety is one of those responsibilities that can feel overwhelming, especially when you don't have a dedicated safety manager or HR team. The good news is that practical health and safety systems for small businesses in NZ do not need to be complex, expensive, or time-consuming to be effective. With the right systems in place, you can protect your people, meet your legal obligations, and build a safer