Industry News

HRINZ HEALTH AND SAFETY REFORM BILL SUBMISSION HRINZ (Human Resources Institute of New Zealand Incorporated) is a not-for-profit membership organisation representing the interests of 4000 individual members. HRINZ members include those working in private and public sector organisations, as well as students and academics. HRINZ provides members with education and information services, conferences and seminars, publications, representation at government and official levels, and networking opportunities. This helps members to develop their professional skills and knowledge in the practice and teaching of human resource management. HRINZ is making this submission on behalf of its members, all of whom are individual members as HRINZ does not offer corporate membership. HRINZ has canvassed member views via online discussion groups and the views and opinions expressed here reflect a broad spectrum of views from HR practitioners at all levels who work in large and small organisations across New Zealand. This submission represents the views of some but not all HRINZ members, and has been endorsed by the HRINZ Board, who are committed to support best people management practices in the workplace to ensure the health and wellbeing of all employees and thereby lift workplace productivity. You will be very aware that; excepting those organisations where health and safety reports directly to the CEO; in most organisations the health and safety expert(s) and functions will report to the GM of HR or equivalent. As a result this is a particularly important piece of legislation for our members. We will provide detailed comments on the contents of the Bill in the latter part of the submission, however before this we feel it necessary to discuss the wider context and environment into which the Bill is being introduced.  HRINZ fully supports the purpose of the Health and Safety Reform Bill and applauds the development and implementation of a balanced framework. However, we strongly believe that the framework will largely be ineffective without improved leadership, better education around health and safety, organisational and societal culture changes, and the funding and resources to achieve the aforementioned. Whilst in time, the regulatory and penalty regime may heighten awareness, the Pike River tragedy and resulting reports highlight to us that it would be better to focus on the deeper, underlying causes that brought us to require this Bill. Inadequate leadership in many organisations is creating or at least tolerating a laissez faire environment which is underpinned by a reluctancy to change and entrenched complacency. When combined with an unwillingness to commit to educating employees, this leads to a lack of engagement from staff and a workplace culture that breeds poor attitudes towards health and safety. Leadership is also responsible for cultivating an environment in which employees feel safe and supported, not fearful, when reporting health and safety issues. As stated by the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety (2013, p.16) “Leadership is vital to creating a workplace culture in which health and safety automatically comes first”. There is also a lack of funding and resources to properly educate workplaces and to signal that matters of health and safety are a priority. Training also needs to be accessible to all and not cost-prohibitive. Of course health and safety needs to be driven by the workforce as much as by senior leaders, therefore it is pleasing to see an emphasis on worker participation in the Bill. Encouraging consultation from employees when developing health and safety strategies is also wise as worker input is often an effective strategy towards achieving organisational culture change. There is a slight concern, however, that with employee participation being less defined, more detailed and expensive models may be imposed in the future. It is important that businesses are empowered to identify the right path to engage their people to achieve a legislated outcome. Personal responsibility is also key. Officers’ duty should also apply to Workers. The “reasonably practicable” qualifier can be used for officers and workers in all circumstances to assess whether the duty was breached. This approach will again help to influence a cultural change where health and safety is everyone’s responsibility. The definition of Officer should also be clarified further so people with this duty are very clear about their responsibilities. As mentioned, culture change is essential if New Zealand is to improve its health and safety record, yet any legislation needs to enable this change rather than ‘force’ it. We feel the carrot and stick approach of bringing in large penalties as a form of threat will not help us achieve the desired health and safety outcomes in the New Zealand workplace, which is typified by a high level of SMEs as opposed to some of the larger corporations found in Australia. It has been noted by our members that the penalties are very severe, and the mere introduction of this Bill has already had the adverse consequence of driving health and safety behaviours underground. Investigations are now being undertaken under legal privilege, no communication is happening and the learning and sharing environment that previously existed has disappeared. We are unsure of how the penalties will be applied, but just proposing such has generated a level of apprehension that is governing how organisations respond to health and safety events, and not in a way conducive to best practice. The Bill is a document of over 200 pages written in ‘dense’ legal language which is often impenetrable to those responsible for health and safety in the workplace. We suggest producing a step-by-step guide or toolkit, written for a non-specialist audience who may be picking up health and safety in a SME. It must be straightforward, written in plain English, and ideally incorporate checklists for easy implementation. HRINZ would welcome the opportunity to address the Committee and consult in the development of future health and safety initiatives.

To the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee

 

To the Medical Council of New Zealand

 

Health and Safety Taskforce HRINZ Submission HRINZ (Human Resources Institute of New Zealand) is a not-for-profit membership organisation representing the interests of 4000+ individual members, who represent over 50% of the known New Zealand HR market. HRINZ members include those working in private and public sector organisations, as well as students and academics. HRINZ provides members with education and information services, conferences and seminars, publications, representation at government and official levels, and networking opportunities. This helps members to develop their professional skills and knowledge in the practice and teaching of Human Resources Management. HRINZ supports actions that will genuinely improve the safety outcomes of people within New Zealand workplaces, particularly given the influence of culture and behaviour in the workplace acknowledged by the taskforce. HRINZ would welcome an opportunity to participate in any group considering ways to influence these matters. Regulatory Issues Organisational size, resource and industry should be taken into account in regulations and the materials available. For example, it may be appropriate that specific industries have greater requirements due the higher level of hazard they contain. The use of the Robens approach to legislation should be reviewed – the underlying philosophy and strategy needs to drive design (structure following strategy) rather than simply adding additional layers or making minor changes if the objectives set for the Taskforce are to be achieved. Hazard management and risk management should be aligned, therefore in developing health and safety regulations, existing risk management standards should be considered. A single agency should be established to regulate and monitor workplace health and safety, to avoid confusion (a basic principle in designing an effective system being clarity and simplicity to avoid process failure). Place greater emphasis on employee responsibility to actively safeguard their own safety and that of fellow workers. Changing Workforce and Work Arrangements New Zealand workplace demographics are constantly changing, with the need to ensure language and literacy are not a barrier to entry or safety in the workplace. Worker Participation and Engagement Employee participation is vital in improving workplace outcomes, including in health and safety. However those involved need to be engaged and focused on health and safety issues. No one group (such as union members) should have preference in representation, all staff should equally have the opportunity to contribute. Union members often participate through the volunteering and election processes, as their personal values make health and safety of interest to them. All workplaces should have a participation system. Leadership and Governance Company directors should be educated in health and safety legislation, including as it applies to the organisations they govern, to enable health and safety to be effectively monitored by the board. Capacity and Capability HRINZ supports the idea of increased access to health and safety qualifications, and is currently drafting a proposed health and safety specialisation within our member accreditation program. HRINZ also recognise health and safety excellence via the HRINZ Health and Wellness award, with a health and safety manager winning the HRINZ Specialist of the Year in 2011. The role of health and safety specialist, including enforcement officer, needs an image overhaul to attract appropriate people. While HRINZ has many members who are health and safety experts and encourage events with a health and safety focus, this is a function that requires passion and often burns out or disillusions capable people. It may be appropriate that more operational people be encouraged into this field, but to do so appropriate career pathways (professional training and organisational recognition) needs to be provided/regulated. The role of inspectors needs to be developed further, with an appropriate qualifications and certificates that are revalidated every three years to remain relevant. Incentives HRINZ promote lead indicators over lag measures and support the use of measures of behavioural change. We also support any program that recognises and promotes excellence, with non-financial incentives seen as being effective if designed and implemented well. Measurement and Data We note that certain industries are more highly populated by specific population demographics, such as males, youth etc. It would be helpful if the statistics could be further broken down to determine which factors have greater impact. We agree that while injuries are measurable and identifiable, health impacts are often more difficult to identify and therefore prevent. Our National Culture and Societal Expectations We encourage further work into the influence of the socio-cultural differences between New Zealand and the comparison countries. An understanding of these differences will be critical in developing initiatives for change that will be effective – we cannot simply replicate elements of other systems and expect them to work without taking cultural factors into account.