Snapshot of health and safety performance released

Health and safety management is improving but New Zealand can do better to reduce death and injury rates at work, according to a new indicator report released today.

Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson says for the first time key health and safety statistics have been brought together in an annual State of Workplace Health and Safety in New Zealand report.

It tracks progress towards five key targets: fewer injuries and fatalities, less occupational disease, lower economic cost, improved industry and employee engagement and increased response to Government activity.

“This is the first snapshot of the state of workplace health and safety in New Zealand, which shows that about 9,500 incidents are reported to the Department of Labour annually.

“We want to see that number declining, particularly with regard to serious harm injuries. Over time this report will allow us to better monitor the rate and costs of workplace harm and what effect safety campaigns or initiatives are having,” Ms Wilkinson says.

“The sectors with consistently high work tolls are construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing and manufacturing – and that’s why the Department of Labour is developing specific action plans for each industry. The first plan for construction was launched last week.

“Today’s report also shows that industry and employee engagement in health and safety is generally high, with most medium to large businesses encouraging employee participation in health and safety and providing training for staff.

“We’ve already seen more than 125 business and government leaders sign up to the Business Leaders’ Forum with the goal of achieving zero harm workplaces, which is a good start.”

The report is compiled by the Department of Labour and will be released annually.

It is available at: http://www.dol.govt.nz/whss/state-of-workplace/index.asp.