WorkSafe New Zealand Releases Workplace Safety Strategy

WorkSafe New Zealand released its refreshed strategy in August 2024, outlining a comprehensive approach to enhancing workplace health and safety across the country. The strategy emphasises the need to reduce workplace harm through a structured framework of engagement, enforcement, and permitting activities. It aims to address acute, chronic, and catastrophic harm, with a particular focus on industries and groups most vulnerable to these risks.

Acute Harm

Acute harm refers to serious injuries, illnesses, or deaths that arise from a single event, such as a fall or a machinery accident. Every year, approximately 50 to 60 people are killed at work in New Zealand, while 400 to 500 more are hospitalised with serious injuries, some leading to long-term disabilities. This harm tends to be concentrated in high-risk industries like construction, manufacturing, agriculture, and forestry.

Key risks that contribute to acute harm include:

• Vehicles and machinery accidents.
• Falls from heights.
• Falling and moving objects.
• Exposure to electrical and chemical hazards.

A significant insight from the data is that Māori and Pasifika workers, as well as older employees, face disproportionately higher risks of acute harm than others. For example, the average age of a fatal accident victim in the forestry sector is 40 years, about a decade younger than in other industries. Additionally, more than half of all work-related fatalities occur in just four industries: agriculture, forestry, construction, and manufacturing.

Chronic Harm

Chronic harm develops over time due to prolonged exposure to harmful substances and conditions, leading to illnesses like cancer and respiratory diseases. It's estimated that 750 to 900 people die each year in New Zealand due to work-related ill health, making chronic harm a significant concern.

The leading causes of chronic harm are exposure to:

• Asbestos
• Silica dust
• Welding fumes and toxic metals
• Engine exhaust fumes
• Wood dust

Construction, manufacturing, and agriculture are the sectors most affected by chronic harm, with the workforce in these industries often exposed to carcinogens and other hazardous materials. In fact, more than half (57%) of the workforce is likely exposed to at least one carcinogen, and 28% are exposed at high levels. Māori and Pasifika workers are particularly vulnerable, with Māori facing higher rates of cancer and respiratory disease. Similarly, Pasifika workers are nearly twice as likely to report working in environments with constant loud noise.

Despite the risks, data indicates that appropriate controls, such as the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other safety measures, are not consistently applied. This inconsistency underscores the importance of continual monitoring and regulation to ensure worker safety in hazardous industries.

Catastrophic Harm

Catastrophic harm, while rare, refers to events that affect multiple people, often arising from a single occurrence such as an explosion or chemical spill. Such events, although infrequent, have devastating impacts and involve industries with significant inherent risks, such as mining, petroleum exploration, and major chemical plants, also known as major hazard facilities.

Catastrophic events account for less than 2% of the overall work-related harm in New Zealand. However, the potential for such events, if not properly managed, remains high. This latent risk has led to stringent regulatory oversight, particularly in industries dealing with hazardous materials or operations that could lead to large-scale accidents.

Conclusion

WorkSafe New Zealand’s strategy focuses on addressing three primary types of harm: acute, chronic, and catastrophic. By understanding where the greatest risks lie, WorkSafe aims to target its efforts effectively to reduce harm, particularly in high-risk industries. The strategy also highlights the importance of equitable safety outcomes, acknowledging that some groups of workers are more vulnerable to both acute and chronic harm. Through its regulatory framework of engagement, enforcement, and permitting, WorkSafe aim to influence businesses and workers to meet their safety responsibilities, with goal of ensuring a healthier and safer work environment for all.

Further Information:

Please note, this information is not intended as legal advice and readers are strongly advised to consult an appropriate subject matter expert regarding queries about a particular health and safety situation. 

For more information on anything Health & Safety related, get in touch with a member of the SBS H&S Team. Freephone 0508 424 723 or www.safebusiness.co.nz.