Legislation is showing its teeth

The hefty sentencing in the recent Budget Plastics workplace health and safety case confirms the strict attitude now taken by WorkSafe and the courts. With the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 having been in place 18 months or so, this case reinforces the need for all businesses to ensure they comply with their obligations under the new regime.  Read more…

Kiwis love getting out on or in the water boating, fishing and diving for seafood, but water safety MUST be part of your routine. Water Safety New Zealand has put together this simple checklist to help you stay safe this summer.  Read more…

Driving, swimming pools and drinking

With the Christmas holidays coming up, we want to remind you about keeping safe this summer – on the roads and in the pool, and to reinforce the message about not serving alcohol to people who are not yet 18 years old. Read more…

The summer holiday period often sees a mix of casual and fixed-term employees working on the farm. You must have a written employment agreement in place from the outset for both types of employees. The consequences of getting it wrong can be expensive as you will see from a recent case below (Stewart v Lee-Jones and Douglas [2017] NZERA Wellington 100, 6 October 2017). Read more…

Know when to walk away
When Barack Obama was US president, he made an historic visit to Africa. One of the messages he repeated was that, under the US Constitution, he could only be president for eight years and this time limit is generally a good thing. Read more…

New government-endorsed health and safety toolkit now available

SafePlus, a new government-developed and endorsed health and safety toolkit, is now available to all New Zealand businesses, including those in the rural sector.

SafePlus currently consists of three products:
1. Resources and guidance
2. Independent onsite assessment and advisory service, and
3. Online self-assessment tool (available mid-2018).

The launch of the independent onsite assessment and advisory service includes the SafePlus register of independent accredited assessors so businesses can now directly engage with assessors.

For more information about SafePlus, click here.