HRINZ supports the Government's proposed "90 Day trial periods" employment law changes in the face of controversy over key changes, including the 90-day trial extension. HRINZ National President, Kristen Cooper, said The Institute supported the proposed changes in principle because they were in keeping with what the Government had been discussing and with what HRINZ members have been saying they want.
Contact details: Debbie Bridge HRINZ Level 1, 11 Chewslane Wellington Tel: 04 4992966
The Human Resources Institute of New Zealand [HRINZ] is an association of people who are interested or involved in the management and development of people at work. The Institute's objectives are: to encourage and support the development of professional knowledge and competence and high standards of performance among its members within New Zealand; o promote within New Zealand understanding of all aspects of human resources management and development and its contribution to the performance of individuals and organisations; and to provide within New Zealand an authoritative and influential viewpoint on all matters affecting its members and the management and development of people at work. The Department of Labour asked HRINZ to comment on the following four questions listed below:
What progress has been made in workplace health and safety in New Zealand over the last three years?
On this issue our members felt that there had been genuine progress made in workplace health and safety over the last three years within New Zealand. General improvements have been commented in the following areas: The level of support provided by ACC with regards to the Workplace Safety Discount packages and Safety initiatives targeted at poor performing companies. A noticeable improvement in the accessibility web site information The introduction of DOL litigators to provide guidance and assistance to Courts on how to determine culpability relating to potential harm rather than actual harm experienced was seen to be highly beneficial The level of co-ordination and communication between the Authorities such as: DOL, Police, CAA, Maritime and ACC regarding Safety initiatives have improved What is working well and should be continued or expanded?
On this issue our members expressed the opinion that they felt that the work place health and strategy in New Zealand was working as it had started to make genuine progress by starting to level out the playing field with almost all of the workers now covered by the HSE Act. Our members supported the decision that the strategy should continue being implemented and the following areas could be expanded upon: There should be greater access to OSH inspectors to provide advice and guidance – this service must continue to be available without penalizing organisations who are trying to make improvements within their organisation OSH inspectors could adopt a more pro-active consultative approach to assist and improve organisations compliance levels All school students should receive basic H & S and *workplace bullying training before leaving school so when they enter the workforce they will already have knowledge and understanding regarding H & S compliance and unacceptable workplace behaviour which will have a positive impact on the organisation in the long term. *Our members state that the issue of workplace bullying and harassment should be included in any review or expansion plans for to address the issue. This issue has wide reaching negative impacts for the employee, the organisation and our economy.
What are the main barriers to achieving the goal of “healthy people in safe and productive workplaces”?
On this issue our members felt that there still are significant cost/compliance barriers for small businesses to overcome, the H & S message was losing its voice in the myriad of complicated compliance requirements that all seem to be competing against one another, clearly there still is an obvious lack of understanding as to the impact of poor H & S performance among some industry groups.
To overcome these many barriers to achieve the goal of ‘healthy people in safe productive workplaces’ we believe the following areas need to be addressed: Cost of compliance Simpler Guidance for SME’s to understand Leadership and Management Buy In Workplace Bullying Cost of Compliance
Our members commented that there should be more assistance for small business many which operate in industries with specific needs which would require a special assessment of their H & S requirements which results in them battling to find the money to pay for the H & S consultations necessary to get it right.
However, if industry groups combined their resources a basic guideline (similar to the current Safety Discount packs) could make it much easier for individual organisations to adopt and implement effective H & S practices. Could the ACC continue to work with other industries to come up with such a simple guideline pack? Simpler guidance for smes Our members suggested that there was a need to understand that guidelines for H&S have to cater for all possibilities and tend therefore to be more complex than most small business needs to understand which then may lead to small businesses ignoring them. Our members suggested that clearer or more stratified or conditional guidelines for situations where the need is simpler? For example: A small warehouse/factory where a forklift is used only for lifting small pallets on and off shelves and moving them around within a small inside area. Some H & S considerations are essential but the current guidelines require training by an approved trainer, which invariably means a full day’s course. The guidelines themselves require a considerable level of understanding, which most employers won’t be able to spend the time on. n organisation which uses a small motor boat to ferry staff to and from work sites – sure there are a number of basic H & S essentials but the requirement for a boat masters certificate is probably excessive. Bearing in mind the large percentage of people employed in SMEs, the country’s H & S strategy really should be focusing on what is practical for them as well as on a structure that can work effectively for a larger organisation.
Leadership and management buy in
Our members offered the view point that they found senior management teams (SMT) appear not to recognize the importance of H & S in the workplace on number levels. Could this be due to the large number of Baby boomers in workplaces being slow to change their behaviour and understanding of consequences (at employee and various management levels)? Which result in senior management and managers not driving home the H & S message in all areas of their business by fully recognising the benefits of health and safety can have on employee productivity and workforce?
Within most small businesses – indeed most businesses generally, individuals are left to do their work – it is impractical and poor practice to micro manage particularly if the jobs are too small. It should be sufficient that the manager has informed the employee of the procedure, provided the resources and that H&S compliance expectations are agreed in the employment contract.
Any non-compliance by the staff member is the accountability of the staff member. Without this the understanding the manager just finds him or herself questioning the use of time and money to set things up, since he or she can’t monitor it and will still be liable – it is seen as being just as practical to enable people to take accountability for their compliance measured by their manager as part of normal delivery of work results. Employers know that every employee must be provided an overview of the areas of danger at the induction stage. However it is often a case of the employer going through the motions and box ticking.
Our members suggested that an interesting exercise for employers to conduct would be to assess their employee’s knowledge and understanding of their H & S training they had received previously. In order to be able to measure what the employees had actually understood from the training or remembered them for their own personal safety. How often do employers provide refresher training in the H & S area through the employee’s career? Could the government/ACC come up with clearer guidelines on how small businesses get staff back to work after an accident - as they have limited alternatives in this area?
Organisations currently appear too reactive rather than proactive when it comes to the area of health and safety from both the interests of the staff member to be equipped with the correct information to be responsible for themselves and from the interests of the vulnerability from a corporate perspective. This could be due to the fact that the organisation does not fully understand what H& S is all about; lacking the leadership and guidance from their senior management on the impacts of poor H & S performance can have an organisation which therefore leads us back to compliance and guidance issues.
If small businesses simply do not understand their compliance obligations due to the complexity they are set out then enforcing H & S compliance with a big stick approach is not the most advisable way to correct this matter.
Obvious our members are not saying that in some circumstances the big stick approach is necessary, but perhaps recommending that the Government could create and put in place some better incentives for employers and employees to take H & S seriously. Our members have recommended that the Government should be providing leadership in this area by actively encouraging the corporate and senior managers to drive H & S education, initiatives and policy throughout their organisations. By placing greater priority on these issues this will enhance the quality of the work place environment enabling them to achieve outstanding rewards for productivity and growth in the long term.
Workplace Bullying
Our members have…
