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Workplace Health and Safety Strategy for New Zealand to 2015

National priorities

The national priorities outlined in this section will help to focus the Strategy’s objectives more sharply and target resources more effectively.

These priorities account for a significant proportion of all work-related diseases and injuries in New Zealand. They also reflect a need to focus on emerging issues, and to help businesses and groups of workers who have particular needs or are at more risk. They are:

These are national priorities. Particular industries will need to develop their own list - although it is very likely that there will be an overlap between an industry’s priorities and the national priorities.

Each priority is outlined below. See Appendix 1 and www.dol.govt.nz/whss for more detailed supporting evidence.

Airborne substances

Airborne substances include fumes, dusts, gases, mists, vapours, viruses, and bacteria that cause occupational cancers, respiratory diseases (including occupational asthma), and other work-related illnesses. Specific examples in the workplace include asbestos, wood dust, welding fumes, and solvents. Airborne substances are a priority for this Strategy because they are the leading cause of premature death from occupational disease in New Zealand.

Workplace vehicles

Vehicles are the single largest cause of work-related injury death in New Zealand. The average vehicle-related injury is often severe because of the violent forces involved. Workplace vehicles include trucks, cars, tractors, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), motorbikes, forklifts, boats, and aircraft.

Manual handling

Manual handling work requires a person to lift, lower, push, pull, carry, or otherwise handle an object. Examples include lifting boxes, packing in a supermarket, cleaning tasks, operating machinery, using hand tools, and handling hospital patients. Poor manual handling practice can lead to musculoskeletal diseases and injuries including sprains and strains, overuse disorders, and damaged spinal discs. These account for a large proportion of work-related ACC claims.

Slips, trips and falls

Slips, trips and falls result in significant numbers of ACC claims for work-related injury, and are often caused by untidy work areas. Falls from heights are a common cause of death and serious injury in the workplace - and they are a major issue for the construction industry.

Psychosocial work factors

Psychosocial work factors include excessive workloads, low job control, and aggression and violence at work. In some people, exposures to these work factors can contribute to chronic fatigue, stress-related disorders (such as anxiety and depression), alcohol and drug abuse, heart disease, upper limb musculoskeletal disorders, and suicide. Personal characteristics play an important role in determining whether psychosocial work factors will give rise to symptoms in a particular worker.

Vulnerable workers

Some workers are at increased risk of work-related disease and injury. Such vulnerable workers may include children, young people, new workers, older workers, new migrants, people with low literacy or impairments, and those working in precarious employment. The protection and accommodation of vulnerable workers is required by international labour conventions and by domestic laws such as the Human Rights Act 1993, the HSE Act, and the Employment Relations Act 2000.

Small business

Small businesses and self-employed people account for a significant proportion of the New Zealand workforce. In comparison with large businesses, small businesses require special attention because the people in them are often less willing and able to manage health and safety (owing to time and finance constraints, other commercial pressures, and lack of knowledge). Small businesses and self-employed people are also harder to influence through regulation and incentive programmes.

High-risk industries

Some industries, including petrochemicals and mining, have a high potential risk of catastrophic failure.  While these types of events are rare they can claim many lives and severely damage the economy, vital infrastructure or the environment.  In other industries, the hazardous nature of work leads to high rates of injury across the workforce.  Examples of high injury-risk industries include construction and the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector.  More work needs to be done to identify industries and sectors that are high-risk in term of occupational disease and health hazards.

Delivering the Strategy

Implementation

The Strategy’s Action Plan 2005/06 outlines a programme of activities for government agencies and other key organisations.

The Action Plan contains new initiatives and existing activities that will be modified or improved (for example, through better co-ordination and collaboration). It identifies specific deliverables in terms of what is to be achieved, by when and by whom.

Further action plans will be developed in following years. The inclusion of specific deliverables in future action plans will depend on assessment of all possible options for achieving the outcomes, and on additional funding being made available in future government Budgets.

The Department of Labour will lead the ongoing development of the Strategy and action plans. The department will co-ordinate promotion and evaluation of the Strategy, monitor implementation, produce accountability reports, and collect and disseminate information through the Strategy’s website (www.dol.govt.nz/whss).

The WHSS Government Agency Group will continue to work with the Department of Labour to develop the Strategy, and provide a forum for co-ordination of activities across government.

Government agencies from the WHSS Government Agency Group will have lead roles in the implementation of the action plans. Other government agencies and non-government organisations will also be involved.

Governance of the Strategy

The governance arrangements for the Strategy are:

Advisory bodies

A high-level advisory body will be established to provide leadership, and ensure consultation and co-ordination between representatives of government, employers and employees in relation to the Strategy and its delivery. This forum will provide advice directly to the Associate Minister of Labour.

The National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee will continue to provide independent, evidence-based advice to the Associate Minister of Labour on major occupational health and safety issues. This Committee will be asked to comment on the ongoing development and implementation of the Strategy.

Monitoring and review

The following mechanisms will ensure accountability:

Evaluation

Evaluation will provide Ministers, government agencies, key stakeholders and other interested parties with information on:

An evaluation framework will be developed and implemented by the Department of Labour in consultation with the advisory bodies and the WHSS Government Agency Group.

Key performance indicators

The Department of Labour will facilitate identification of a set of valid and reliable indicators for measuring progress towards the Strategy’s vision and outcomes. Where appropriate, these will be aligned with indicators developed for the New Zealand Injury Prevention Strategy and other national-level injury prevention strategies.

Key performance indicators for the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy will include work-related disease and injury statistics, and also ‘positive’ performance indicators relating to workplace practices. For example:

The Department of Labour will work closely with the Statistics New Zealand Injury Information Manager to facilitate the routine reporting of key statistical indicators relating to workplace health and safety.

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