YOUR LEVY AT WORK
A guide to New Zealand’s biosecurity system Part 1: All layers of the system are required to provide maximum protection Eve Pleydell : HortNZ risk policy advisor
During a recent biosecurity presentation, a speaker suggested that the Swiss cheese model could be used to illustrate how the different layers of the biosecurity system work together to provide protection. In this article I’m taking that idea and exploring it further. The Swiss cheese model was developed in the 1990s by the psychologist James Reason to illustrate how accidents may happen. In this model, each layer of defence against an accident is illustrated as a piece of Swiss cheese with
random holes. The slices of cheese are arranged in a line one after another and accidents happen when the holes line up from one end of the line to the other. While this model has been applied and maybe even misapplied to many different situations, it can be used to provide a simplistic, but helpful overview of the biosecurity system. It is tempting to think of the biosecurity system as being the things that the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) does at the border to protect New Zealand from being
A Swiss Cheese Model of NZ’s Biosecurity System All layers of the system are required to provide maximum protection , ns ne ns s n e tio nti tio io se ce c t nc c a e ity on ca s an peuar eilla l p l fi s p s n i i ur t s r n c e q v n i s it o nts e in nts e e e r v e e s, yr su e ur g rv m os rta me hor me or nt e amm rit bi es c s rtin t desess nsh me v u i s i po ire r l a f t r c f b po e rm tic Im qu Bo as O reat O tre Ac rog Pu re Fa rac os & re t & p Bi & p
Unwanted pest or disease causes damage in NZ
Unwanted pest or disease in a foreign country
Pre-Border
Border
Post-Border
Each layer of the system has imperfections or vulnerabilities (holes). If each layer is functioning well, it is harder for multiple holes to line-up Credits: Original source – James Reason, adapted from Ian Mackay’s interpretation 8
The ORCHARDIST : MAY 2022
