4 April 2016

Health and safety bill critical to culture change - Z

Z Energy today welcomed the implementation of the new Health and Safety Reform Bill, saying it was an essential step in changing New Zealand’s poor workplace safety culture.

The new legislation comes into effect today.

Z’s General Manager of Health, Safety, Security and the Environment, Julian Hughes, said the new legislation represented a once in a generation opportunity to drive much-needed material change in New Zealand’s poor workplace safety culture and performance.

“This new Act touches every worker in New Zealand and, while the passage of the legislation was predictably contentious, this is an important step forward for New Zealand which brings us into line with countries like Australia which have modern workplace safety legislation,” he said.

“As we see it, the Bill’s three core principles are simple – people who create risk are best placed for managing it; those in governance and senior management roles are ultimately accountable; and all workers should have the right to be involved in the decisions that impact their health and safety.”

Julian Hughes said, on average, somebody is killed at work every week in New Zealand and New Zealand’s rate of workplace fatalities was double that of Australia and four to six times higher than for workers in the UK.

“The Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy reported multiple failings in New Zealand’s workplace health and safety, including a culture that did not support safe work. This legislation is an important step in turning this culture around to one that does not accept workplace harm as an inevitable consequence of work.

“Z has been a strong supporter of this overhaul of safety legislation from the beginning, and we congratulate every person who has contributed to making this important change happen.”

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