NZ Health & Safety Record ‘Disgraceful’ and ‘Unacceptable’

Industry Taskforce Identifies Stalled Progress, Delivers 5 Urgent Recommendations

Business and Government must action collective solutions

A recent business leaders Taskforce report – Been There. Done That – makes for a confronting read. It does not hold back – either in its analysis, its verdict on the state of our nation’s Health and Safety record, or with its strong set of 5 Recommendations.

It is a report that should have made waves in June, when it was published. And perhaps it did, in some industry and government circles. But it has been largely absent from public discussion – except for some summary articles in the NZ Herald and by RNZ National, and a Law Association article that went deeper with additional analysis and interviews.

This Blog is a call for industry – and those in positions of responsibility in government – to push for the adoption of all 5 Recommendations.

‘In the six years since it was launched, the Government’s 2018-2028 Health and Safety Strategy (the 2018-2028 Strategy) has seen no action plan or implementation. This stalled progress, combined with an absence of regulatory clarity and a lack of accountability through inadequate coordination and action across government agencies and industry, is unacceptable.’

A Time to Instigate Meaningful Change

If, as a nation, we want to improve our national H&S record? Then we should all be informed, involved, and pushing for a safer work environment.

‘We need intervention to redress this shameful performance, keep workers safer, and reduce avoidable confusion for employers.’

Industry has to make its voice heard. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden is holding broad ranging and thorough consultation roadshows in the regional areas, which will be open until the end of October. She hopes to enact reform during this parliamentary term. A review of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 is under way, including the regulations underpinning legislation, and the performance of regulators like WorkSafe.

Some tenacious lobbying from industry – for the implementation of the Industry Taskforce’s 5 Recommendations – would result in a strong push to fix our nation’s “chronically flatlining health and safety performance”, as the report puts it. The Taskforce makes it crystal clear that we cannot afford to wait for a few years. We need action at short notice.

‘Our workplace fatality rates have barely shifted in the last decade, whilst comparators like Australia and the UK have continued to improve their performance. Our failure to learn is stark – the 2013 Independent Taskforce’s report on Workplace Health and Safety could have been written today.’

Workplace fatality rate: International comparison

So, what should industry representatives be pushing for…?

Some Grave Stats

The Taskforce report was a follow-up after the Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum published its State of a Thriving Nation report, in 2023. That sobering read, quantified the (avoidable) cost of New Zealand’s workplace harm at $4.4 billion for 2022, and noted that lifting our standards to those of Australia would collectively save us $1 billion, per annum!

We are lagging behind other nations. Our fatality rate – of some two fatalities per 100,000 workers – is four times higher than the UK and twice that of Australia (who also have 20% lower serious injury rates).

Key Barriers to Progress

The Taskforce identifies three key barriers that are holding us back as a country:

There remains no credible national strategy to align, coordinate and focus New Zealand’s finite resources to drive sustained reductions in harm, nor is there any organisation or group taking proactive and accountable “oversight” for our national performance.
There is a lack of regulatory clarity for too many businesses about what’s expected of them, resulting in an unhelpful and ineffective combination of businesses either duplicating “performative safety” efforts, or taking no actions at all.
The incentives and sanctions for health and safety performance are confused, variable and inconsistent, to achieve sustained and focused motivation and implementation by businesses to meet their responsibilities to keep workers safe, healthy and productive.

How clear are you on New Zealand's national plan of action and priorities for improving health and safety?

Straightforward Recommendations

Here are the key 5 Recommendations under these three key areas, that must be acted on to positively change the Health and Safety trajectory we’re on as a country.

Rewrite and relaunch the 2018-2028 Strategy, including both implementing comprehensive governance and a three-year action plan to capture and ensure progress.
Review and implement priority regulatory changes to ensure the most appropriate mix of regulations, codes and guidance to clearly specify businesses’ accountabilities and expectations.
Apply the rules clearly and fairly and oversee them expertly to ensure poor or negligent business practices are consistently held to account, and leading performance is incentivised.
Establish an independent oversight function of the 2018-2028 Strategy, incorporating a small group of industry leaders and workers to ensure progress and momentum for improving New Zealand’s health and safety performance.
Establish and maintain a coherent, credible and current body of government and industry data and insights to inform and focus WorkSafe NZ and business health and safety efforts.

Number 1 should be a relatively easy and straightforward win, since the foundations are already in place. Number 4 would easily find industry participants, since we have a pressing need. They would ensure urgent progress and can identify where priority changes can be made easily with the greatest effect. The other Recommendations can then logically follow.

A Must Read for Industry

The Been There. Done That report is an excellent read – worth exploring more. The ‘sea of orange traffic cones’ Case Study illustrates perfectly where we all ‘lost our way’. The Methanex (Taranaki) Case Study illustrates how “a practical framework, rather than a prescriptive approach, enables businesses to be both nuanced and innovative in their approach.”

‘When New Zealand businesses are set up for success in a practical system, with clarity, guidance and buy-in from all parties, they have the capacity and capability to deliver genuinely leading practices that stand up to international scrutiny.’

In the Interim – AI can help

While the structural changes are being worked through – and this report cannot be ignored by a government focused on fast-track, pragmatic progress – AI-powered technology can help.

inviol started selling its AI Health and Safety solution late last year. Sales are ramping up fast, and we now have helped several major corporates achieve a more than 80% risk reduction within 3 months of implementation. Our solution – alongside regular Toolbox meetings with staff – turns out to deliver a transformation in Safety Culture. And that transformation is driven by empowered and informed workers on the work floor and on the trucks.

To date, we’ve installed our solution at larger companies, like Woolworths, Placemakers, Godfrey Hirst logistics, NZ Post and others.

But there’s no reason why smaller companies couldn’t install a small-scale solution.

Investment with a Short Pay-Back Period

inviol is affordable. And the ROI is a no-brainer. At the large corporates – the cost of one broken ankle is higher than a complete inviol installation for a year. We’ve prevented quite a few of those accidents, plus a raft of other serious injuries. Since our solution has gone live, none of our customers have experienced a single fatality.

So, talk to us. Find out how inviol can help transform your Safety Culture. It will be a while, before the nation can truly say: “Been there. Done that!”.

Until that time, inviol could be a money and life saver (quite literally) for your company…