16th Occupational Health and Safety conference

Introduction

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you all today.

Health and safety within New Zealand workplaces is something the Government takes very seriously and is a key focus area for me personally, so I am pleased to be able to come and talk to you about the issues and our priorities for the next three years.

This term the Government has four key priorities. These are to responsibly manage our finances; deliver better public services; build a more competitive and productive economy; and rebuild Christchurch.

We must take New Zealand forward. Ensuring we have skilled and safe workplaces will play an important part in our success.

Action plans

New Zealand has about one workplace death each week. We lose a farmer a month. And a farmer is injured every 30 minutes. This is simply not good enough.

We are focused on reducing harm in five priority sectors that have the worst rates of injury and fatality. These are construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing and manufacturing.

Action plans for most of these sectors have already been released. I announced the forestry action plan in September last year and just last month I released the manufacturing sector plan which features a range of initiatives, including improving the safe use of machinery and vehicles at work.

Manufacturing has one of the highest rates of serious injury to workers. ACC records show 107 deaths occurred in this sector between 2002 and 2009. ACC claims from the sector during 2009-10 were worth more than $124 million – that is almost 20% of the total claims cost for New Zealand.

This cost is obviously not just a financial one, but a very personal one to the individuals who suffer work-related injuries and disease. And the cost is simply too high.

Health and safety shouldn’t be seen as a compliance cost but as an investment. People perform better when they are physically and emotionally able to work and want to work, which in turn leads to higher productivity, which can lead to higher profits.

This is why we have established a three-year National Action Agenda to target gaps in strategy and focus on taking action in the workplace. The five sector Action Plans set out how the government and sector will work together over the next two years to reduce the work toll.

We want to – and indeed need to - seriously reduce the number of injuries and deaths in the workplace. It is simply unacceptable for anyone to be unable to return home to their friends and family after a day at work because of injury.

Specific actions are outlined in the plans to target particular areas needing attention. For example, the safe use of machinery and vehicles, such as forklifts, gantry cranes, and farm quad bikes will be targeted. Clear safety standards for machine guarding are to be established. Safe work practices will be promoted, especially to youth, and new guidelines for safe work in the metal industry have been developed. Information will also be gathered to help identify emerging trends and issues.

More attention must be given to meeting the needs of groups of workers who are over-represented in the injury and fatality statistics – such as youth, older people, Maori and Pacific people, and people with low literacy or numeracy skills.

Pike River tragedy

New Zealand’s worst tragedy in recent years was the Pike River coal mine explosion in which 29 men lost their lives.

You may have seen that the Department of Labour is proposing a new regulatory focus for underground coal mining in the wake of the tragedy.

In its Phase 4 paper to the Pike River Royal Commission of Inquiry they proposed that the future regulatory system should be based on the three pillars of support concept.

This involves enhanced employer/operator duties, more support for worker involvement in health and safety, all underpinned by an active and engaged regulator.

As the underground coal mining industry has the potential for severe consequences in the event of failure, it is arguably appropriate that it be more prescriptively regulated than other industries.

Obviously we all have lessons to learn from the Pike River tragedy. We will await the Royal Commission’s recommendations, due in September, but I am sure you will see regulatory and operational changes and improvements and not just in the mining industry.

High Hazards Unit

However, on the operational side we have already made improvements in the High Hazards sector. We reviewed the Department of Labour’s resourcing and as a result the Government put in an extra $1.5 million a year for the creation of the High Hazards Unit.

The unit monitors and supports operators of high-hazard facilities in the mining and petroleum industries to prevent major workplace accidents and has enabled the Department to attract the highly skilled inspectors needed for these industries.

So we now have eight specialist Health and Safety Inspectors appointed. That includes three mines inspectors, three petroleum and geothermal inspectors, and two internationally experienced chief inspectors.

Chief Inspector Petroleum and Geothermal Wayne Vernon started work in March. This followed the appointment of Chief Inspector Mines Gavin Taylor who was seconded from his position as Queensland’s Chief Inspector of Coal Mines. Mr Taylor will stay on as Chief Inspector Mines until June by which stage the Department hopes to have concluded or be very close to an agreement with a full time appointee.

Mr Taylor has sent the mining industry some very clear messages – that the Department of Labour is focused on auditing health and safety systems in mines and expects the mines to meet their statutory obligations to provide safe working environments.

In February the Unit issued prohibition notices and shut down a small gold mine in the Coromandel and Solid Energy’s Spring Creek mine on the west coast when their safety practices were deemed unsatisfactory.

What the High Hazards Unit has shown us is the importance of having the right people on the ground, who have the right knowledge and experience and who have the respect of the industry. It is about sending firm and clear messages that safety is paramount.

We do need to share and learn from overseas jurisdictions and in that respect Mr Taylor’s experience in the Australian mining industry has been valuable.

I have also asked that we build closer relationships with our Australian counterparts; undergoing training and learning international best practice.

The work of the new unit illustrates the importance of a renewed focus on health and safety and changing the culture and attitudes in New Zealand.

If the safety systems are well planned, well implemented and regularly audited, the whole culture of a workplace shifts with more focus on ensuring safety.

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment

As I’ve said, one of the Government’s key priorities is to build a more competitive economy, and skilled and safe workplaces are an important part of that.

Safe workplaces are good for employees, good for business, and good for productivity. Safety is not an option – it is a must.

The new Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment will help to create jobs, higher wages and increase the prosperity of all New Zealanders.

That means making it easier for businesses and companies to access innovative ideas, markets, capital, skilled workers, resources, and the supporting public infrastructure. The Government has a comprehensive business growth agenda to assist business, and a single focused business-facing government ministry will further boost our momentum.

I can assure you that health and safety will be a key focus for the new Ministry.

One idea I’ve asked for the Department to begin work on is the introduction of a five star safety rating system. If we can have a rating for refrigerators, surely we can have a similar system for the safety of a workplace.

It’s early days with this but it would allow both employees and those wanting to work with a business an indication of their safety record upfront.

Workers have a right to know that when they go to work in the morning they will return home safe.

Too many people are killed or injured at work in New Zealand and I am committed to reducing these numbers and changing the culture of health and safety.

Studies have shown that organisations that are leaders in health and safety practices within their industry also tend to have overall better business performance.

Employers that belong to an industry association also tend to have better business performance. Studies indicate that investing in high performance workplace practices is good for health and safety, and good for productivity.

Safety is not a trade-off for productivity – the two go hand-in-hand.

Conclusion

When every person who goes to work returns home to their family in one piece, then we will know we are doing the right thing.

Thank you again for inviting me to speak to your conference today. I am keen to engage with you all and I do appreciate your time and your commitment to improving health and safety in the workplace.