There are sweeping changes occurring in the OS&H space which will change the landscape in NZ like it did in Australia, in fact it is an exact replica of AU legislation; if you have any major decision making role in your company this concerns you.

I’m surprised how few people know about it here in NZ. Conveniently for us it strengthens the case for outsourcing high risk areas for personal harm out to specialist providers like SCS and we’re pushing that for all its worth! However even for your office staff there is a plethora of new risks and liabilities they will be exposed to in April next year and that’s the main point of this post.

Your NZ office is about to be exposed as a liability to this new legislation; it doesn’t just effect the company or the Directors and Managers it even effects your staff.

We can help…read on…

NZ work related fatalities are more than double that of AU per head of capita, AU is continuing to head down, NZ is slowly increasing. This statistical fact excludes the Pike River mining disaster (which would put us at 3 times that of AU and 6 times that of the US ) which has been a key catalyst for the significant changes that are coming.

We are working hard to ensure we are prepared/compliant at SCS, you should be prepared too as you will be effected.

Here are some key changes

1. Currently less than 30 inspectors nationally, this will rise to +200 with a very clear mandate
2. Corporate fines are increasing massively
   1. Minor going from 50k to 500k
   2. Medium going from 100k to 1.5M
   3. Major going from 175k to 3M
3. Individuals (you and your staff) will now be liable for huge fines and prison
4. Officers (anyone that participates in decisions that effect a substantial part of the business) are liable for up to 600k personally and/or 5 years in prison
5. You can no longer insure against fault, the only way you can manage liability is that you must demonstrate knowledge and application of the new laws.

And more, click here for a one page synopsis of the key changes that WILL effect you HSE Act v HS at Work Act v4 (you’ll need MS word to open this if you don’t have MS Word drop me a line and I’ll email it to you brad@supplycs.com)

How can we help?

Recently we teamed up with Keith Robertson, Keith owns a company called Training in Supply who have recently been officially accredited PTE status (Private Training Enterprise) Keith has been offering H&S advice for years, SCS as you know has a stronger interest than most in our staff safety and achieved secondary ACC certification 2 years ago (only 0.5% of NZ companies have ever achieved this) together we have recognised an opportunity to help companies in education and risk mitigation around this new legislation as well as helping employers look after their staff better. Sadly it’s one of those things where most people don’t act until something happens but it doesn’t need to be. The new company is called WSAS – Work Safe Advisory Services Ltd.

Our offer is simple.

595.00 – A hardcopy manual you will use to ensure compliance with the new legislation. Everything you need to know including how to identify, record, manage, monitor and avoid work safety risks. This includes 1.5 hours training a primary staff member on how to use the system.

175.00 – Optional cost for training secondary staff to back up your primary one.

150.00/hour for annual audits. Depending on your business size and profile you will need between 1 and 4 audits per annum, each audit will take between 1-2 hours, the frequency and length of audit will be discussed individually. The audits are important to ensure 3rd party compliance by an accredited specialist and if/when you need legal representation.

Even if you are a sole trader with one employee you will need this.

You don’t need to engage someone like WSAS, you can do this all by yourself, by the same token you don’t have to go to a dentist to get a root canal, you can do that at home too with a bit of practice.

Also if you are manager don’t think you can delegate this, that’s one of the points of the new legislation, government wants you actively involving in safety and they are forcing the matter with penalties that will get to you directly. If you doubt the seriousness of this ask any Australian in business because that’s us next year. Senior officers should be the primary OSH sponsor.

We’d love to help you.

Especially SCS clients; so you are fully prepared before the issues start, SCS clients receive a 10% discount, if you’d like us to assist drop me a line and I’ll arrange for one of our representatives to visit you and demonstrate the system in person.

brad@supplycs.com