NEWS
WORLD SAFETY
DAY PUTS
SPOTLIGHT ON
LARGER WORK
HEALTH AND
SAFETY ISSUES
April’s World Safety Day was a
reminder of the bad start New
Zealand’s had to 2019 with 22
workplace fatalities in the first
three months of 2019, compared
to 9 in the first quarter of 2018.
However, these statistics
disguise an even larger problem
of 600-900 work related deaths
from health exposures annually,
and a growing road toll with an
estimated third of the 379 road
deaths last year involving people
who were working at the time.
According to Worksafe’s regularly
updated fatalities summary
report, 42 people lost their lives
in work-related incidents in 2018,
the lowest level for five years.
However, New Zealand still sits
in the lowest quartile of OECD
countries, with numbers of deaths
per 100,000 workers up to five
times that of the UK.
If you include statistics for people
who have died after being
exposed to health risks at work,
and while driving when working,
the statistics could balloon to over
1,000 fatalities per year.
“Our current statistics do not
represent the total problem,” he
says. “While all countries report
in the same way we should be
looking at the wider problem and
tackle three areas: workplace
safety to protect workers from
accidents, workplace health
to address long term risks and
issues and work related driver
safety,” says Greg Dearsly,
president of the New Zealand
Institute of Safety Management
(NZISM).
“Accidents at work grab headlines
and sadly our statistics are still
high compared to other OECD
countries, so we need to continue
our strong efforts to reduce them.
“But at the same time more
attention needs to be put on
work health issues, and if driving
is part of any worker’s role, their
employer should be involved in
helping that person be a safer
driver. Just having a driver’s
license is not an indicator of how
safe anyone will be when driving.”
BUSINESS HAS A ROLE TO PLAY
IN IMPROVING AND PROTECTING
NEW ZEALAND’S ENVIRONMENT
The Sustainable Business Council
(SBC) acknowledges the Environment
Aotearoa 2019 report released by
the Ministry for the Environment and
Stats NZ.
“Members of the Sustainable
Business Council, as well as the
Climate Leaders Coalition, are
working on many fronts to show
kaitiakitanga, reduce their emissions,
and enhance their communities.
This report provides valuable data to
guide their efforts. But we expect it
will also act as a prompt to raise their
ambitions for further action.
“Many of our members are using
the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) to help
define their sustainability strategy.
These indicators provide the specific
New Zealand context to help them
achieve the SDGs that they are
working towards.
“The natural environment is an
important part of what we value about
living in New Zealand and many
businesses are now very conscious of
the role they play.
TECH LEADERS ALREADY SEEING
IMPACT OF AUTOMATION
Techleaders, a growing group of top
executives from the country’s biggest
companies and organisations, are
backing the pioneering work of the
Productivity Commission to try to
better understand the impact of
technology changes on the future of
work in New Zealand.
Techleaders are part of the large
NZ Tech Alliance which consists
of more than 20 tech associations
that represent more than 1000 Kiwi
businesses and organisations.
David Kennedy, the Techleaders
chair, says the Productivity
Commission was tasked by
government to work out how New
Zealand can manage the risks of
fast-expanding tech changes and
gauge the impact on the future of
work and the workforce.
“The commission has launched an
inquiry into tech change and the
future of work in New Zealand, and
last week released an issues paper
seeking input on the future of the
tech landscape for Kiwis,” he says.
“Having seen first-hand the impact
that deploying new automation
technologies can have on people’s
jobs, we have pooled our collective
thoughts to help develop best
practice to minimise the impact.
“Last year Techleaders created a
simple set of digital principles for
organisations working through digital
transformation to remind them to
put their people first. We believe that
the changing landscape is creating
a situation where companies must
focus more on the human side of
technology, both from a customer
and employee standpoint.
“It is our strongly held belief that
the prosperity of New Zealand is
inextricably linked to how well our
organisations embrace a digital
future and how well they evolve.”
“We also know that skills needed
by the work force are changing
rapidly so getting the link between
education and industry will be
important, as will the ability of the
education system to adapt and
“The Good Life 2.0 Playbook New
Zealand, produced recently by SBC
and Colmar Brunton, shows that
appreciating nature is one of the key
things that New Zealanders associate
with having a good life.
“The Better Futures report released
earlier this year by Colmar Brunton
showed that New Zealanders are
highly concerned about the build-up
of plastic in the environment, pollution
of our waterways, and climate
change. Encouragingly, it also found
that a growing number (4 out of 10)
New Zealanders are highly committed
to living sustainable lifestyles.
Businesses are responding to these
concerns. For example, Countdown
and The Warehouse Group were
leaders in phasing out single-use
plastic bags. Multiple businesses
partner with the Department of
Conservation on their valuable
initiatives. More than 85 businesses
have now joined the Climate Leaders
Coalition, and many businesses are
taking the lead on rolling out electric
vehicles in their fleets.
We appreciate anything government
can do to make it easier to take
action, and we hope individuals in
their communities will support these
actions.
evolve faster.
“It is great to see the government
taking this critical area so seriously
with things like the Tripartite
Forum and now this Productivity
Commission study.
“Techleaders are looking forward
to supporting the Productivity
Commission as it undertakes this
work,” Kennedy says.
The Techleaders form a
comprehensive knowledge base
from a cross section of New Zealand
business, all of whom are actively
involved in transforming their
businesses, incorporating digital first
approaches.
The Techleaders’ executive is from
organisations such as Auckland
Transport, Downer, Fonterra, Fletcher
Building and Westpac, which are at
the tech coal face driving change.
18 MAY 2019