Where Human Resources and Health and Safety Naturally Overlap - and How to Work Together

This Special Interest Network event is for members only.  

If you are a HRNZ member and not already part of the Health and Safety Special Interest Network, email [email protected] to be added.

A practical conversation for HR professionals navigating safety, wellbeing, and risk. 
 

Purpose 
To launch an engaging, practical conversation for HR professionals about how and why Health & Safety (H&S) matters in HR practice. Not as a compliance burden, but as a strategic, people-first capability. This special interest network event will unpack the overlap between HR and H&S, using organisational psychology to reframe safety as a lever for performance, culture, and wellbeing - especially relevant in low-resource environments. 
 

Target Audience 
• HR professionals who are not H&S experts, but carry responsibility or influence in this space 
• Those in small-to-medium organisations where HR may 'wear many hats' 
• HR managers and advisors feeling unsure or under-resourced 
• Professionals who want to engage safely without 'owning the liability' 
• Curious leaders who want to better integrate wellbeing, safety, and performance 
 

Key Messages 
• There’s a place for HR in safety systems - let’s explore it 
• HR already shapes safety culture (often without knowing it) 
• Good safety is good leadership, good engagement, and good business 
• H&S isn't just hard hats and hazard registers: it’s also fatigue, feedback, fairness, and fit 
• You don’t need a PhD in safety – just understand what matters 
 

Topics We’ll Touch On 
• The interplay between culture, wellbeing, and safety 
• Why 'workers are not the problem to control' and what that means for HR 
• How to spot the early warning signs of unsafe work environments 
• Navigating the legal grey areas: what you’re responsible for, and what you’re not 
• Leadership behaviours that support (or sabotage) a healthy safety culture 
• Intersection of work design, work demands, and burnout - a holistic organisational lens 
• The real meaning of ‘psychosocial risk’ - beyond buzzwords
 

Practical takeaways: 
• “5 things every HR person should know about safety” 
• “Where HR and H&S naturally overlap — and how to work together” 
• “Risk 101 for HR: Understanding physical, psychosocial, and organisational risk in plain terms”     
 

Participant Value 
• Walk away with greater clarity, not more complexity 
• Gain language and confidence to engage in the H&S space 
• Start to build a community of practice around HR x Safety 
• Leave with curiosity, not compliance fatigue

To Register
HRNZ Members = FREE
HRNZ Student Members = FREE
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Please note: if you are NOT attending the event, you can no longer register on behalf of others.
For all queries relating to this event email [email protected]   
Cancellations
Please email [email protected]  prior to the event to cancel