New Toolkit to improve health and safety

ACC and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced a new Workplace Health and Safety Performance Improvement Toolkit (the Toolkit) to provide businesses with advice and guidance to improve health and safety performance.

“The Toolkit delivers a framework that defines what good health and safety looks like and encourages active involvement and engagement throughout the workplace, from workers and operational managers through to senior leaders and boards,” Mr Woodhouse says.  

“The Toolkit delivers a health and safety best practice standard that is nationally recognised, credible and aligned with the New Zealand regulatory framework beyond minimum compliance requirements.

“Businesses will be able to choose how the Toolkit best caters to their needs with access to resources on the WorkSafe website, an onsite assessment delivered by independent accredited assessors or a free online self-assessment.”

The Toolkit will help improve workplace health and safety by:

• aligning health and safety workforce professional development with best practice

• supporting behavioural and culture change by fostering more effective worker participation and engagement

• targeting system weaknesses identified by the Independent Taskforce

“Good health and safety is good for business and leads to a more productive workforce,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“The Toolkit has an important role to play in this and is another step towards achieving the government’s target of a 25 per cent reduction in workplace fatalities and serious injuries by 2020.”

The Toolkit is the culmination of the Safety Star Rating Scheme work undertaken by WorkSafe, ACC and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

For more information, visit www.worksafe.govt.nz/health-and-safety-toolkit.