NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on Minister Brooke van Velden to ensure that her review of workplace health and safety puts the voices of workers front and centre.

“Everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand has the right to a safe workplace and to be able to come home safely to their family at the end of the day. That must be the number one priority of any review to health and safety laws,” said Wagstaff.

“This review must include robust consultation and engagement with workers and their unions, to ensure best practice health and safety. It is workers who bear the brunt of poor health and safety, the people doing the work are the best placed to understand risks.

“I am concerned that the announcement of this review foreshadows a weakening of a long-standing consensus on improving workplace health and safety in New Zealand.

“This Government’s aversion to regulation must not put the health and safety of workers at risk. Good health and safety relies on having a strong regulator, capable employers, and informed and empowered workers working together.

“Our health and safety system is based on that international best practice. If the Minister wants the country to improve its poor health and safety record on par with the UK or Australia, we need to follow their lead and strengthen the law, rather than weaken it, and give workers a real voice.

“Good businesses know the importance of health and safety, it’s not a tacked-on compliance cost but a standard part of good business practice. They understand that healthy and safe workplaces are productive workplaces.

“Under the Minister’s watch, WorkSafe has undertaken job cuts and is under further pressure to find even more cost savings. This is a recipe for further workplace injuries and death.

“This review is a great opportunity to strengthen New Zealand’s approach to health and safety. Some easy wins for the Minister would be to ban engineered stone and introduce corporate manslaughter legislation,” said Wagstaff.

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