Since 2013, WorkSafe has been the primary health and safety watchdog for businesses in New Zealand. Over the years, they’ve been helping businesses and workers navigate their responsibilities to keep workplaces safe, healthy and injury-free.
Fast forward to June this year, and WorkSafe has revealed a new, more streamlined strategy following a review of its practices and engagement in 2023.
While WorkSafe still emphasises preventing harm and fatalities, the new strategy zeros in on three core areas of harm:
- Acute: Serious injury, illness, or death, that arises from a single event.
- Chronic: Serious injury, illness, or death, that is caused over time.
- Catastrophic: Serious injury, illness, or death, affecting multiple people – usually from a single event
But something crucial is missing: psychosocial harm – issues like stress, fatigue and workplace bullying.
This marks a notable departure from current practice and sets New Zealand apart from countries like Australia, where psychosocial harm remains a strong focus, thanks to initiatives like the ‘right to disconnect’ and the “Stop Bullying Order”.
Alongside this refined focus, WorkSafe is also reshaping how other stakeholders – government agencies, industry bodies, iwis and unions – can play their park in improving workplace health and safety.
In fact, Jennifer Kerr, Chair of WorkSafe, made it clear in the strategy’s foreword: “WorkSafe has a significant role in influencing better outcomes, it cannot do this alone.”
So how will WorkSafe influence change moving forward? Here is their game plan:
- Engage: Helping businesses and workers understand how to meet their responsibilities to ensure work is healthy and safe.
- Enforce: Taking action against those who fail to meet their responsibilities to ensure work is healthy and safe.
- Permit: Authorising businesses and individuals to carry out high-risk work activities that require permission to do so.
As part of this shift, WorkSafe will be rolling out two key documents:
- A functional model that outlines the key functions WorkSafe must execute to achieve their strategic goals.
- An operating plan detailing organisational priorities, initiatives, and resource allocation to being the strategy to life.
While we await these documents to see how the strategy will play out in practice and how it will be evaluated, one thing remains clear: the new focus on serious harm doesn’t mean psychosocial health should take a back seat.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 still requires businesses or PCBUs (persons conducting a business or undertaking) to ensure the well-being of employers – both physically and mentally.
So, while WorkSafe might be evolving, your responsibility to create a safe, supportive and stress-free workplace stays firmly in place.
Our team will keep you posted once the new strategy documents are released – stay tuned!
Need help navigating these changes? Reach out to our team today for advice on keeping your workplace compliant and safeguarding the mental and physical health of your employees.