NZs Statistics On Deaths And Illness At Work Are Sobering Yet, Health And Safety Training Courses Are Under Threat
Work-related deaths are poorly recorded in New Zealand. Since 2010, nearly 10,000 people - men, women and sometimes children - have died from occupational diseases or workplace deaths. Another 420,000 people were injured on the job.
But the nation's only graduate program in occupational safety and health is being overhauled as part of a broader cost-cutting program at the university. The university is currently considering a NZ$128 million government grant, but the future of the program remains uncertain.
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The Occupational Health and Safety Program at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University in Wellington was established following the 2010 Pike River disaster in which 29 miners died in a mine shaft explosion.
The independent task force recommended "wider integration of occupational safety and health into education and training systems at all levels to support the overall improvement of the workforce".
The disaster led to changes in the law in 2015 with the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The Act provides a risk management framework and the workplace regulator, WorkSafe New Zealand, and a mandate for learning and development in New Zealand. improved new.
Costs to the economy and society
Between 2015 and 2022, when the new law came into effect, the total economic cost of work-related illnesses and deaths was NZ$6.725 billion. This excludes the personal costs and social costs of such losses.
Data from the International Labor Organization (ILO) up to 2022 allow comparisons between countries using risk management frameworks. So almost three times as many people die at work in New Zealand as in the UK.
These data highlight that UK health and safety inspectors, who have been operating as part of risk management since 1992, have slightly higher but significantly lower rates of workplace injury and death. .
New Zealand's occupational health and safety system has inspection and investigation sites. However, since the law is clear about the need to identify and manage business risks, no additional controls will be required. If a business is unsure how to do this, expert help, such as financial or legal advice, is available and necessary.
Design a safe workplace
In 2022, the ILO updated its Basic Principles to include the "right to a safe and healthy working environment" under the 1998 Declaration of Rights at Work. New Zealand signed these as well as four additional basic principles , including freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of forced labor, the effective elimination of child labor, and the elimination of discrimination in the workplace.
This means we must be able to design a safe workplace and protect the health of the workforce. To do this, we need trained professionals who know how to do it best – and the potential damage to the graduate program is great.
Read more: Deaths at work: We must tackle dangerous flaws in health and safety laws
A 2019 Health and Safety Association of New Zealand report highlights the need for an additional 2,000 health and safety professionals by 2030. A possible cancellation of the program would limit the country's ability to train and develop the workforce his worker. This will result in people with no cultural background studying abroad or foreign recruits without cultural knowledge.
In a country where Māori and Pacific workers are at risk of injury and death in the workplace, this context is critical to implementing change.
Health and safety education and training is offered in New Zealand at other institutions, including apprenticeships, undergraduate degrees and postgraduate degrees.
However, the postgraduate program is designed according to international standards to equip health and safety practitioners with the necessary skills in risk identification and risk management, as well as management, communication and negotiation.
Health and safety professionals in New Zealand often need to consult with their senior management to make changes to reduce identified risks. The practitioner's role in the organization is to integrate health and safety into day-to-day operations and support employees to work in a healthy and safe manner.
If New Zealand wants to improve its health and safety performance, reducing access to education is not the way to do it.
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