Previous PageTable Of ContentsNext Page

Work Safety Discussion Paper

A Department of Labour discussion paper on reviewing the Health and Safety in Employment Act (1992) - the HSE Act - looks at new ways to recognise the right to be safe at work. The review of the HSE Act is one part of a three-part plan for improving workplace health and safety (other parts of the plan involve the ACC reforms and the Employment Relations Act 2000). A common thread of all three parts of the plan is the notion of partnership - joint management, employer, union, and employee responsibility for safety and health.

Accident and Illness Statistics

  • over 160 people die every year in preventable injury deaths in NZ;
  • there are about 400 work-related fatal illnesses every year;
  • someone needs treatment for a workplace incident every 2 minutes;
  • there were 242,000 work-related insurance claims in 1998/99 - representing about 1 in 7 workers;
  • 30,000 injured employees are off work for 5 days or more every year; and
  • 1.25 million days of work are lost every year; and
  • in the 1998/99 financial year, the real (versus insured) cost of workplace-related injuries was estimated to be $3.18 billion.

Encouraging a Culture of Safety

The HSE Act replaced a whole lot of detailed legislation with an overall system based on the principle that employers should take "all practicable steps" to minimise workplace hazards. It is believed that the basic structure of the Act is sound, but that there needs to be a greater influence placed on creating a workplace culture where health and safety is a real priority.

The proposals in this paper (to improve the HSE Act) fall into three categories:

  • Improving the Coverage of the HSE Act - to ensure that all employees and other people who are in workplaces are covered by a consistent set of health and safety laws (for example, getting coverage for railway and maritime workers and aircrew);
  • Encouraging more 'partnership' between employers and employees - to ensure effective communication on health and safety matters (it's proposed, for example, that employee health and safety representatives be appointed in workplaces where employees request them); and
  • Effective enforcement - more incentive for all parties to comply with laws (for example, introducing infringement offences and fines, increasing the level of fines, and removing the OSH monopoly on prosecutions).
Submissions close 28 February 2001, and should be sent to HSE Review, Occupational Safety and Health, PO Box 3705, Wellington. Email submissions, to hsereview@osh.dol.govt.nz , are also encouraged. A copy of the paper can be downloaded from www.osh.dol.govt.nz

Previous PageTable Of ContentsNext Page

Contact for Enquiries

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington

Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
Contact this person

 
Print this page Print this page




WebSite survey