PPE • ACCESS • CHEMICALS • HEALTH • INJURY • MANAGEMENT • ENVIRONMENT • FOCUS
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016 VOL 11 NO. 3 PRICE $9
Safety role in home workplaces
How tradies need to meet HSWA obligations
First aid in the workplace What to do in an emergency
Taking tech to trees
KEEP CALM STAY SAFE AND
LAW CHANGES ARE COMING IN THE HANDLING OF DANGEROUS GOODS AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES* RESPONSIBLE CARE NZ WILL KEEP YOU FULLY INFORMED OF THESE CHANGES AND PROVIDE THE COMPLIANCE TOOLS YOU WILL NEED.
BE COMPLIANT, STAY COMPLIANT
CALL 04 499 4311 www.responsiblecarenz.com
*Proposed changes are expected within 12-18 months.
RESPONSIBLE CARE NEW ZEALAND – YOUR ONE-STOP INDUSTRY CHEMICAL SAFETY ADVISOR
Staying ahead of the game M
ore than 100 chemical suppliers and their guests, WorkSafe NZ inspectors and emergency service personnel were briefed on the status of workplace health and safety legislation at the recent Responsible Care New Zealand (RCNZ) annual general meeting. RCNZ Chairman Tom Barratt welcomed presenters, noting the capacity audience reflected the importance chemical suppliers attached to meeting and exceeding the community’s expectations for safely managing chemicals. Departing WorkSafe NZ Chief Executive Gordon MacDonald canvassed the development of the Health and Safety at Work (HSE) Act, highlighting progress in preparing his organisation for the additional responsibilities arising from assimilation of the Hazardous Substances Regulations, which will require continuing chemical industry support. Industry expert Kim Comben described progress with ensuring the new Hazardous Substances Regulations are fit for purpose when implemented in mid-2017 and commended chemical suppliers for their submissions throughout the public submission phase, particularly RCNZ participation in the critical advisory group. Matt Adams reviewed the status of the Major Hazard Facility (MHF) Regulations, noting the preparations to identify sites which will require a safety case as part of an enhanced compliance regime
triggered by the the Pike River Mine disaster. Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne enthusiastically canvassed the review of the NZ Fire Service, resulting in the Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) Bill presently before parliament. The restructure
the ability of WorkSafe NZ inspectors to advise and enforce new chemical regulations, the future of the faltering test certification regime, together with concerns about watering down chemical safety performance standards. RCNZ Chief Executive Barry
“RCNZ products and services provide WorkSafe NZ, the NZ Fire Service and the future FENZ with a valuable resource delivered though mutually beneficial partnerships” involves fully integrating urban and rural brigades in a streamlined and upskilled resource, better prepared to respond to a wide range of incidents. The minister noted there would no longer be a charge for attending chemical incidents. He thanked RCNZ for supporting the Fire Service with the unique CHEMCALL® 24/7 Emergency Response Advisory Service and was looking forward to chemical industry support for the new organisation, delivered through a reinvigorated and mutually beneficial partnership agreement. The following question and answer session engaged presenters in an often vigorous and passionate exchange of views, including
Dyer noted industry concern the mandatory approved handler requirement may be removed, questioning the likelihood of employers maintaining the important qualification under the general HSW provision. “Industry is seeking a peer review of the draft Haz-
ardous Substances Regulations to avoid the mistakes arising from the HSNO Regulations.” Summarising the four-hour session, Dyer noted the enthusiastic response to the free event reinforced the importance of ensuring SMEs in particular received the compliance advice they needed without relying on expensive commercial conferences and events. He assured presenters of continuing chemical supplier support, particularly the invaluable CHEMCALL® 24/7 Emergency Response Advisory Service, suppliers’ compliance advice and Product Stewardship initiatives, together with specialist chemical safety training. “RCNZ products and services provide WorkSafe NZ, the NZ Fire Service and the future FENZ with a valuable resource delivered though mutually beneficial partnerships,” he concluded. “I hope this will be the first of many such opportunities to keep Industry informed of changing workplace health and safety requirements.”
Responsible Care NZ provides practical products and services to enable compliance with New Zealand’s world-class chemical management regime. Tel: +644 499 4311 email: info@responsiblecarenz.com Visit: www.responsiblecarenz.com
www.isn.co.nz
10
THIS ISSUE
THIS ISSUE September–November 2016
Managing Editor Geoff Picken 0212 507 559 geoff@infrastructurebuild.com Associate Editor Steve Best +64 27 564 7779
COVER STORY: Taking technology to trees
Innovative technology being introduced to save lives in forestry, one of the country’s most dangerous sector for workers 20-22 Keeping workers out of harm’s way when harvesting trees 22-24 Ross Wood pioneers remote control and teleoperations 25-26
ACCESS
Mobile all-terrain platforms from Universal Handing Equipment Rushing in to the rescue can often compound the problem and result in a fatality Lacking of training leads the five fatal mistakes when it comes to entering a confined space
EVENTS, AWARDS, APPOINTMENTS
Fonterra’s Nicole Rosie appointed the new WorkSafe NZ chief executive The Responsible Care New Zealand annual meeting for chemical suppliers Aggreko AusPac chalks up a million man-hours without a Lost Time Injury Project manager Jeff Robertson wins Site Safe Safety Excellence Award
HEALTH
Being tired on the job is as dangerous as being drunk Collective action is the key to workplace health and safety says retiring WorkSafe chief executive Gordon MacDonald The alarming scale of the silent killer, asthma, in the workplace The whole person approach good for workers and the bottom line
Art Director Lewis Hurst 021 14 66 404 lewis@hcreative.co.nz
7 10 35 38-39
Web Development Neo Chen neosync@icloud.com
6 7 10-13 36-37
Red Cross NZQA advice and programmes instrumental in keeping your workmates safer with quick response to accidents and emergencies 28-31 & 40 Fast, safe cordless hydraulic pump Better two way communications for firefighters
9 27
LAW
Content Partner Buddle Findlay say that tradies need to know that when a home becomes a workplace they need by law to keep their workers, themselves and the home occupants safe 19
MANAGEMENT
Fire alarm and sprinkler testing from FPIS 5 Risk and hazard registers improve worksite safety 14-15 Content Partner Dr Andrea Polzer-Debruyne explains how to make sure you keep your best people 38
PPE
Smart Jacket keeps cyclists visible on the road at night Full compliance with redesigned fall protection body harness
Industrial Safety News is endorsed by NZ Safety Council
Managing Partner Phil Pilbrow 027 564 7778 or 09 489 8663 phil@infrastructurebuild.com
9 33-34 34
INJURY
INNOVATIONS
Sales Manager Angie Duberly 021 222 8223 angie@infrastructurebuild.com
8 37
Publisher Mike Bishara 027 564 7779 mike@infrastructurebuild.com Subscriptions Digital editions free to qualified readers. Annual subscription print edition $39 Overseas rates – see online
www.isn.co.nz ree access to searchable F archives in key categories such as PPE, Access, HAZMAT, health, injury, management, environment and chemical safety. Free online access to daily news features, case studies and events Printer Crucial Colour 24 Fairfax Avenue, Penrose, Auckland +64 9 589 1550 Published by Media Solutions Ltd 3c 12 Tamariki Ave, Orewa 0931 O Box 503, P Whangaparaoa 0943
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SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2016
THIS ISSUE
Writers and contributors to his edition
Gordon Macdonald is Chief Executive of WorkSafe New Zealand P14 Collective action from government, business and workers essential to keep workplaces healthy and safe 14
Content Partner Sherridan Cook is a Partner at Buddle Findlay, and a specialist in health and safety and employment law P16 It is very much up to tradies to make sure they can operate safely and protect customers in the home 16
Content Partner Dr Andrea Polzer-Debruyne is a senior consultant at PeopleCentric P38 How to make sure you hold on to your best people 38
Keith Raymond is harvesting and logistics programme manager at Future Forests Research Ltd P20 A range of new technologies are about to make felling and harvesting trees a much safer occupation 20
Responsible Care New Zealand www.responsiblecarenz.com Chemical Suppliers talk safety and partnerships at the annual meeting 3 Professor Drew Henderson is Director of the Appleton Institute in Adelaide It is just another hazard says this world authority on fatigue in the workplace 6 Dr Fleur de Crespigny is Safe Work Australia Director of Research and Evaluation More than 40 percent of workers are exposed in the workplace to agents that cause asthma 10 The Asthma Respiratory Foundation NZ www.asthmafoundation.org.nz Triggers and risks of asthma in the workplace and the steps you can take to reduce them 13 Gordon Anderson is managing director of Hasmate Ltd Turn a risk/hazard register into a proactive management tool 14 Red Cross has a range of training programmes, workplace first aid kits and accessories including automated external defribrillators available www.redcross.org.nz A quick response to accidents and emergencies is the difference between life and death 28 Gordon Anderson is a director of Net Gain Ltd and a registered safety auditor and engineer Ignoring rules to rush in to confined space emergencies risks can be a fatal mistake 33 Jo van der Walle is founder of Rise & Shine, a dedicated holistic wellness company A whole person approach is a proven way for better workplace health and safety 36
Book your inspection with FPIS After 25 years as the leading nationwide inspection company in New Zealand, we are still the market leader in the inspection market. Now with new branding and an updated company profile we are providing a fresh approach to inspections in New Zealand. The inspection market is tightly regulated with all inspection bodies operating in New Zealand required to be accredited to ISO/IEC 17020:2012. We assure you FPIS is fully accredited as a Type A Inspection Body under International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) IANZ accreditation provides independent third-party recognition of the technical and scientific competence of professional organisations like FPIS and its staff. FPIS offer Inspection and Certification services for the installation and commissioning of fire alarm systems to NZS4512:2010. We offer inspection of installation and commissioning of sprinkler systems to NZS4541:2013. FPIS also carry out numerous routine inspections of sprinkler systems across New Zealand as required in the Compliance Schedule
of your building or facility. These inspections include major sites like Carter Holt, Tiwai Aluminium Smelter and Fonterra to name a few. We also offer other services to many different clients in the building and compliance sectors in New Zealand: • Consultants and Insurers • Compliance organisations • Fire protection contractors These services include: • Water supply flow testing • Backflow prevention device testing • Fire hydrant and riser inspection and testing FPIS offers Independent Compliance Audits to your specifications of your fire systems to give you peace of mind that your Fixed Fire Systems complies with the relevant standard. We make sure your systems are installed and maintained with a high degree of workmanship and quality – and will operate as it is designed to do.
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5
HEALTH
Sleep talker: managing fatigue is about ensuring that staff have had sufficient sleep in order to work safely says visiting world authority on worker fatigue Professor Drew Dawson
More sleep, more wakefulness? B eing tired on the job is a real health and safety issue that many businesses have to grapple with, a HASANZ conference keynote speaker maintains. “Fatigue is just another hazard,” says world authority on worker fatigue, Professor Drew Dawson. According to him, fatigue in the workplace has to be actively managed. “Businesses need to be aware that the effects of fatigue on performance are similar to the effects of alcohol,” Dawson advises. “It’s not reasonable to be in the workplace under the influence of alcohol or under the influence of fatigue.” The Director of the Appleton Institute at the Central Queensland University campus in Adelaide, his research on the effects of shift work and sleep loss on the health and well-being of employees is internationally recognised and applied in many organisations. Predicting how tired someone
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SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2016
should be based on their hours of work is problematic says Dawson, who visited New Zealand as a guest of the recent Health and Safety Association of New Zealand (HASANZ) to share his learnings at its first conference. “The best predictor of how tired
“And you shouldn’t have been awake for longer than the amount of time you spent asleep in the 48 hours previous to starting work. So if you’ve only had eight hours sleep, you’re good to go for eight hours.” Having worked extensively with
“Businesses need to be aware that the effects of fatigue on performance are similar to the effects of alcohol” you will be is how much sleep you’ve had in the 24 and 48 hours previous to starting work, and how long you’ve been awake,” he explains. “As a rule of thumb, you need five hours of sleep in the 24 hours previous to starting work and 12 hours in the 48 hours previous to starting work.
the aviation, manufacturing, retail, entertainment, transportation and mining sectors in Australia and advised many New Zealand companies, Dawson boils his message down to a simple mantra – “sleep buys you wakefulness”. During his career, he has instigated fatigue management programmes, developed shift work
and fatigue policy, undertaken pre-employment assessments, and facilitated shift work education sessions. “Most people confuse fatigue management with their industrial agreement, and assume that if you comply with the rules of rostering then it will be safe,” says Dawson. However, it doesn’t take much thinking to realise this is not always true. “For instance, if you’re up all night with a sick child, you will be unfit for work, irrespective of how long your shift is.” Dawson says managing fatigue is about managing fatigue and wakefulness and ensuring that staff have had sufficient sleep in order to work safely. “The most important thing an organisation can do to manage fatigue-related risk is talk about it.” Check out the next issue of Industrial Safety News for comprehensive coverage of the HASANZ Conference
WORKSAFE
Working together better for everyone I’ve said this many times before - keeping our workplaces healthy and safe needs collective action from everyone in the workplace health and safety system from government to business and workers
W
e remain of the view that businesses create the risk and are in a position to control it, while workers have an important role in keeping themselves and their workmates safe. We recognise that government agencies involved in health and safety need to work together effectively so their collective resources achieve the greatest impact. One of the issues the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety found in 2012 was that government agencies needed to work together better to change New Zealand’s poor health and safety record. WorkSafe and ACC then agreed on a formal joint three-year plan around workplace harm prevention. The organisations recognised the importance of working together and have being doing this through key programmes like Safer Farms, the Safety Star Rating work, and the Canterbury Rebuild Safety Charter. By developing a joint Harm Reduction Plan, both agencies have taken their relationship to the next level, ensuring an even more consistent and co-ordinated partnership approach to reducing severe injuries and fatalities in workplaces. What businesses want to see from WorkSafe and ACC is a clear steer on what the agencies are targeting and why. They want to see how we will work together and who will lead what. How we plan to engage with business and workers, and how best to engage with us. That’s what the joint Harm Reduction Plan aims to deliver – smart, targeted injury and harm prevention programmes based on the best available data and evidence. This provides greater transparency for businesses and workers. The plan aims to use the collective knowledge and strengths of both agencies – intelligence, education, leadership and influence, economic incentives and enforcement to support the delivery of a high-performing health and safety system. The plan recognises that we need to build and broaden our focus. The four key sectors - construction, manufacturing, agriculture and for-
estry - remain key as they account for the most fatalities and severe injuries, and also have a high risk of exposure to work-related disease. But this focus has widened to the healthcare sector because of correlations between patient safety and a safe and healthy healthcare workforce, and our ageing population.
The plan also contains programmes which provide support for all business, for example workforce development, safety governance, worker participation, incentives, and Safety Star Rating. Reaching and working with small business is provided for, as well as partnering with the small number of businesses responsible for a
“Health in the workplace is critical as an estimated 600-900 work-related fatalities occur annually” But these sectors alone cannot achieve the impact we want on injuries, fatalities and work-related health. The plan recognises that beyond the five sectors there are a number of shared common risks of harm. These risk areas include body stress, working in and around vehicles, slips, trips and falls, and exposure to airborne substances. It focuses on these areas as a more efficient approach to tackling issues.
significant proportion of severe injuries and fatalities. And it’s not just about safety – health in the workplace is critical as an estimated 600-900 work-related fatalities occur annually. Approximately 60 per cent of these work-related fatalities are caused by exposure to airborne substances, like wood dust, silica, agri-chemicals, asbestos, welding fumes and solvents. So, what’s next? WorkSafe and ACC will work closely with busi-
nesses, workers, industry associations, and other government agencies. We will bring to the table data around where injuries occur, a greater understanding of what interventions work, better clarity around where we want to work and how, an understanding of what is happening across sectors and businesses, and a range of tools and influence we can bring to bear on an issue. However, we know that harm reduction cannot happen if it is not a partnership with, and led, by business. Achieving real and lasting change for the better will only happen when everyone plays their part – from WorkSafe and ACC, to company directors, managers, workers, contractors and everyone in between. We need people to demonstrate that leadership and work with us. The plan is now available on both WorkSafe and ACC’s websites. We are changing the way we work. Will you? Gordon MacDonald is Chief Executive WorkSafe New Zealand
WorkSafe New Zealand appoints new chief executive
N
icole Rosie will be WorkSafe New Zealand’s new chief executive, says the workplace health and safety regulator chair Professor Gregor Coster. Rosie is currently a senior manager at Fonterra and has an “impressive background” in health and safety management at some of this country’s largest companies. “She also has extensive experience in managing substantial transformation projects with large budgets,” Coster adds. She was Director for Health and Safety at Fonterra before leading the development and delivery of a new farmer shareholder-focused brand and relationship management programme, and most recently has led transformation projects designed to deliver over $120 million value over two years. Trained as a lawyer, Rosie also has direct health and safety experience in the transport infrastruc-
ture and forestry sectors at KiwiRail and Fletcher Challenge Forests. “Nicole’s experience in health and safety and management will bring a new dimension to WorkSafe’s ability to meet its commitments to leading the cultural and operational change required to bring down New Zealand’s unacceptably high levels of workplace deaths and injuries,” Coster believes. ‘Nicole is a highly experienced executive who has led health and safety; led major change programmes; worked in ACC and injury management, forestry, transport infrastructure and energy; and managed relationships with industry in her roles in transport, electricity and at Fonterra.” Nicole Rosie will take up her role on 12 December 2016, replacing Gordon MacDonald who is returning to the United Kingdom after leading WorkSafe for nearly three years.
www.isn.co.nz
7
PPE
Light up time: the Vodafone Smart Jacket connects to a cyclist’s smartphone via an app and lights up to alert traffic when the cyclist turns
Smart Jacket shines a light on the future of bike safety BMX champion Sarah Walker and comedian Jon Bridges have teamed up with Vodafone to demonstrate a mobile technology innovation designed to keep cyclists safer at night
T
he Smart Jacket connects to the cyclist’s smartphone via an app that has been pre-programmed with the desired travel route. The jacket then picks up route information, and communicates directions to the cyclist and surrounding traffic. As the cyclist approaches an intersection or street crossing, a patch of lights on Smart Jacket’s sleeves light up to indicate to the cyclist which way they need to turn. In addition, more than 300 builtin LED lights display illuminated arrows on the back of the jacket, informing other road users of the cyclist’s next move. New Zealand Ministry of Transport data shows cyclists have a high risk of having a crash after dark, especially during peak time traffic flows in the morning between 8-10am and the early evening (4-6pm). Sarah Walker says concepts like Smart Jacket could boost road
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safety for cyclists. “There’s a lot happening to improve road and cycle safety and encourage people to ride more, and I think the Smart Jacket is a great idea to add to the mix,” she believes. “There is this perceived idea that cycling is dangerous – so anything that can help take away those barriers is a good thing.” The Smart Jacket prototype is a
collaboration between Vodafone Netherlands and technology company Magic Bullet. First developed in the Netherlands to improve safety for cyclists on their narrow roads, the jacket was of interest to Vodafone New Zealand as cycle safety continues to be a major focus as New Zealand’s cycling culture evolves. Vodafone’s Consumer Director
Matt Williams believes mobile technology innovations like Smart Jacket could help improve cycle safety in New Zealand. “Technology is changing everything – from the way we educate our children, to how we manage our health and wellbeing,” he observes. “The potential to connect things for good is limitless, and Smart Jacket is a great example of what’s possible in a world where everything is connected.” Comedian and cycling advocate Jon Bridges adds that anything that boosts safety and improves communication between cars and bikes is a good thing. “If we could ease that perception that cycling is dangerous then we will all be better off, and one good way is to have things that make it safer – like cool fun jackets that hook up to your phone,” he says. “It is exciting to know that innovations like the Smart Jacket could soon become a part of our daily lives.”
INNOVATIONS
Fast and safe portable cordless hydraulic pumps Power-packed: Enerpac’s new XC-Series cordless pumps are claimed to be five times faster than manual hydraulic pumps
E
nerpac is introducing the versatility of either single or double-acting XC Series cordless pumps, which offer the performance capabilities of an electric pump with the convenient portability of a hand pump. Both types of Enerpac XC-Series cordless pumps actuate hydraulic tools as fast as a basic electric-powered pump and create up to 700 bar (10,000 psi) of pressure. This means that XC-Series cordless pumps are up to five times faster than manual hydraulic pumps and up to two times faster than popular pneumatic powered pumps. The easy-to-transport pumps with removable shoulder strap and integrated carrying handle are ideal for a wide range of industries, such as mining, construction,
industrial and power generation, solving diverse and demanding applications, including: • mobilising heavy equipment • maintenance of mobile drilling, mining, construction, military equipment • gear pulling • underground rail and structural work, mobile equipment • manufacturing, process and conveyor equipment maintenance • overhead crane maintenance • nut splitting and cutting • lifting rail cars and rail alignment • construction and electrical installation tasks including generator positioning • hose or pipe crimping. The double-acting pump can power tools requiring powered extension and retraction, including cutters, crimpers, breakout tools
for drill rigs and an array of tools used for lifting, bending forming and pulling. Cordless technology enables the XC-Series pump to deliver a tremendous amount of power in a small, portable package. It also makes the worksite safer by eliminating electrical cord or pneumatic hose trip hazards. Just like other cordless tools, the XC-Series battery powered pump makes the job at hand easier and safer. Designed to provide optimal safety to operators, the XC-Series offers several safety features including: • zero trip hazards through cordless design • overload protection circuitry from excessive amp draw or temperatures • a trigger lock-off mechanism
to protect against unintended operation during transport. Engineered as a long-lasting pump that can be used in hard-to-access areas, XC-Series cordless pumps are constructed of lightweight materials, equipped with a powerful, one-half horsepower motor and feature 28-volt, Lithium-Ion battery technology. With its bladder reservoir, Enerpac’s cordless pumps eliminate venting and offer leak-free operation in any orientation. Plus, the overall body, handle and trigger have been ergonomically engineered to maximize ease-of-use and portability. XC-Series cordless pumps deliver oil flow of 2.05 litres per minute at its low-pressure setting and .25 litres per minute when operating at full pressure, up to 700bar.
Mobile all-terrain platforms Stability for a more profitable and safer workplace
Step Thru
A stable stepping off platform and two side safety rails means access to your workplace is safe and easy with Step Thru. Featuring just one control and two large diameter wheels the StepThru is fast and easy to move around. The dangerous practice of climbing onto or jumping down from trucks and the use of step ladders to access areas like containers and mezzanine floors is eliminated. Platform heights 860mm to 2865mm. Meets or exceeds AS/NZS 1892.1:1996 standard, US standard ANSI-ASC A14.2-2007and European standard EN 131: Parts 1&2.
Omni
Take Omni from place to place on the worksite with no more lifting or carrying. Simply tow it behind you and use your free hand for your tool box. Release the control and Omni is automatically in safe mode. No movement as you work on the platform - all instability associated with designs that use spring loaded castors is eliminated. Features two large wheels, a single control for braking and steering plus an optional extra safety gate/tool tray. A load rating of 150kg and designed to meet AS/NZS 1892.1:1996 Standard and European standard EN 131: Parts 1&2.
Aluminium Mobile Platform Ladders Fast, flexible access with full portability and stability A range of platform height options Reposition quickly with no set-up Move easily over all terrains Tested to 150kg load rating Use indoors or outdoors Meets or exceeds Australian/NZ standard AS/NZS 1892.1:1996
Step-Thru
Omni
Contact us today
Just one control for braking and steering
Combination safety gate and tool tray
Tel: 09 570 4402
www.universalhandling.co.nz
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9
HEALTH
Keeping track of the silent killer Employers and workers alike should take heed of a landmark Australian study that graphically illustrates the alarming scale of asthma in today’s workplaces
A
sthma is responsible for some 69,000 hospital admissions and 67 deaths per year, making it the third leading cause of death in New Zealand. Recent Australian research shows 47 per cent of male and 40 per cent of female workers were exposed to one or more asthmagens (agents that cause asthma) in their workplace. The extended Australian Work Exposure Study that ran from 2013-2014 examined the types of work and workers most likely to be exposed to asthmagens in their workplace. The study also found that workers could be exposed to more than one asthmagen depending on the types of tasks undertaken at work. “Farmers and animal workers are most likely to be exposed to asthmagens,” explains Safe Work Australia Director of Research and
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Evaluation Dr Fleur de Crespigny. “Men in the study who worked with metal or wood and in food preparation also had a high exposure probability, while women were more likely to be exposed to asthmagens if they worked as carers, cleaners, in food preparation or as nurses.” Howevere, de Crespigny adds that “it’s important to note” that while most workers will not develop asthma as a result of work-related exposures, those exposed to asthmagens are at greater risk. “It is also possible that the rate of new cases of occupational asthma and work-aggravated asthma could be reduced if the information from this research is used to focus preventative efforts.” The extended Australian Work Exposures Study investigated self-reported work-related exposures to agents that cause or
aggravate asthma. Work-related asthma includes new cases of asthma caused by exposures to asthmagens at work (occupational asthma) and cases where asthma symptoms are made worse or experienced more often by exposures to triggers (normally irritants) at work (work-aggravated asthma). A review of international studies estimated about 16 to 17 per cent of adult onset asthma cases were caused by workplace exposures to asthmagens. Occupational asthma can be classified as either: • sensitiser-induced (allergic) ‐‐ characterised by exposure(s) to an agent that sensitises the airways so they react to subsequent exposures to the same agent, to other sensitisers, and to non-specific triggers and or
• irritant-induced (non-allergic) ‐‐ typically occurs as a result of one or more high level exposures to an irritant ‐‐ accounts for approximately 10 per cent of all occupational asthma. Occupational asthma can be prevented. For example, a study of workers in the Australian and New Zealand aluminium industry ascribed improvements in control of exposures, respiratory protection and pre-placement medical assessments to a 96 per cent reduction in the incidence of occupational asthma in seven smelters between 1992 and 2006. However, prior to the AWES-2 research there was little information available on the extent of exposures to these asthmagens in Australia that was useful for prioritising potential work health and safety interventions.
Working smarter. Our experienced team is dedicated to providing expert employment and health and safety legal advice with a strategic and commercial approach. We offer assistance and representation on all health and safety issues, investigations and prosecutions. ........................................... Sherridan Cook, Partner 09 358 2555 // sherridan.cook@buddlefindlay.com Hamish Kynaston, Partner 04 499 4242 // hamish.kynaston@buddlefindlay.com Peter Chemis, Partner 04 499 4242 // peter.chemis@buddlefindlay.com Susan Rowe, Partner 03 379 5659 // susan.rowe@buddlefindlay.com
HEALTH
A total of 4878 participants from a randomly selected population-based sample of Australian workers were interviewed and asked questions about their tasks at work, including the types of materials worked with, work practices and the controls used to prevent or minimise exposures. An automated expert assessment process was then used to estimate potential exposures to a predefined list of asthmagens based on worker responses to one of 52 job-specific modules or, in some cases, a generic module within the web-based tool OccIDEAS.
Common asthmagens within occupations—by gender Gender
Males
Key findings
Careful analysis of the results found that workers could be exposed to more than one asthmagen depending on the tasks undertaken and the materials, work practices and controls used. The results were generally reported by gender due to different profiles of occupation and exposures: • about half (47 per cent) of all males in the sample were exposed to one or more asthmagens, with probable exposures most common amongst farmers and animal workers (97 per cent), metal workers (96 per cent), wood workers (96 per cent) and food preparation workers (92 per cent) • the most common asthmagens that male workers in the sample were probably exposed to were bio-aerosols, which includes moulds commonly found in rotting food and metal working fluids potentially contaminated with bacteria (26 per cent), metals and metal compounds (23 per cent), arthropods or mites (21 per cent) and latex (19 per cent).
Females
Occupation
Common exposures
Farmers and animal workers
Bio-aerosols, arthropods or mites, metal and metal compounds, ammonia and agents derived from animals or plants
Food preparation
Bio-aerosols, arthropods or mites, latex, biological enzymes, foodstuffs and flours
Wood workers
Bio-aerosols, aldehydes, epoxy resins and adhesives, reactive dyes, acrylates, wood dusts and isocyanates
Painters and printers
Metals and metal compounds, aldehydes, industrial cleaning agents, epoxy resins, anhydrides, wood dust and isocyanates
Carers
Bio-aerosols, arthropods or mites, latex, industrial cleaning agents and ammonia
Farmers and animal workers
Bio-aerosols, arthropods or mites, ammonia, agents derived from animals or plants, latex and aldehydes
Food preparation
Bio-aerosols, arthropods or mites, latex, industrial cleaning agents, biological enzymes, foodstuffs and flours
Wood workers
Bio-aerosols, latex, aldehydes, ammonia and wood dusts
Hairdressers
Latex, aldehydes, industrial cleaning agents, ammonia, acrylates, amines
Cleaners
Bio-aerosols, arthropods or mites, latex, industrial cleaning agents and ammonia
Four per cent of male workers were exposed to isocyanates • forty per cent of all females in the sample were probably exposed to one or more asthmagens, with probable exposures most com-
“A review of international studies estimated about 16 to 17 per cent of adult onset asthma cases were caused by workplace exposures to asthmagens” mon among farmers and animal workers (100 per cent), carers (99 per cent), cleaners (96 per cent), food preparation workers (96 per
Deep breaths: a spacer should be used at all times if your inhaler allows it
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SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2016
cent) and nurses (92 per cent) • the most common asthmagens that female workers in the sample were probably exposed to were latex (25 per cent), industrial cleaning and
sterilising agents (20 per cent), bio-aerosols (18 per cent) and arthropods or mites (16 per cent) • generally, probable exposures were more common to high molecular weight (HMW) agents such as bio-aerosols and athropods and mites • relationships between probable exposures to all asthmagens within occupational groups were also examined and these analyses were provided in supplementary materials to the research paper. The AWES-2 study dovetails with other research findings such as the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS), which found about 26 per cent of the sample self-reported exposures to ‘vapours, gas, dust or fumes’ in their current job.
However, this study did not identify specific asthmagens, not all dusts are asthmagenic, and by definition it did not include a wide range of agents included in AWES–2 such as latex, animals and animal products and foods. A Norwegian study also assessed exposures to asthmagens using a job-exposure matrix and found 62 per cent of males and 59 per cent of females were exposed at some time over the previous 10 years to biological dusts, mineral dusts, gases, or fumes. Some work-related asthma registries have also collected information about common asthmagens implicated in diagnosed cases of work-related asthma, including: • South Africa — isocyanates and latex • Finland — moulds, animal epithelia (dander), flour, grain and grain mites • Australia — wood dust (including Western Red Cedar), and • the United Kingdom — isocyanates, cutting oils, adhesives, chrome, latex and gluteraldehyde. A South Korean study that used information from a range of sources, including physicians, surveillance systems and compensation schemes, found common asthmagens to be isocyanates, flour and grains, metals and metal compounds, reactive dye and solvents.
HEALTH
Is your workplace making your asthma worse? Asthma can be triggered by many things both at work and away from work, including: • smoking or being exposed to someone else’s smoke • dusts • fumes • allergens (from dust mites, animals, etc.) • physical exertion • stress • cold air. Symptoms include: • cough (either a dry cough or one that produces mucus). Often people whose asthma is caused by work or whose asthma is made worse by work will notice the cough predominantly at night • shortness of breath or chest tightness • wheezing. If symptoms tend to arise closely after exposure, the person will often be very aware of the substance or area of the worksite which makes their problem worse. All of these symptoms may improve when the person isn’t at work.
Are you at risk of developing asthma at work?
Sometimes, people who have never had asthma before can develop asthma through an allergic reaction to a substance in the workplace. This may happen even after years of working safely with the substance. Sometimes the allergic reaction (and therefore the symptoms) doesn’t develop until some hours after the exposure. It is therefore often difficult to identify the workplace as the cause. Other people develop asthma for the first time in the workplace after heavy exposure to irritants of the breathing tubes, such as weld-
If a workplace process or substance is causing or making your asthma worse, there are several steps that you can explore with your employer to lessen the problem:
ing fumes or gaseous vapours like sulphur dioxide. Many substances or processes are recognised as causing asthma problems in New Zealand including: • working with chemicals such as those used in some paints and glues, foam manufacture etc, or epoxy resins – common industries include spray painting and boat building • working with wood dusts – problem dusts include western red cedar, rimu and some particle boards (building and joinery industries) • being exposed to metal fumes or dusts (aluminium smelting, welding, etc.) • being exposed to dusts from organic sources such as flour, animals, insects etc. The prevalence of occupational asthma is higher in smokers.
What can you do if you suspect something at work is causing you to develop asthma or making your asthma worse?
Talk about the problem with your doctor or the occupational health nurse if one visits your workplace. The doctor will ask you to: • note what substances or processes you are exposed to in your work • note if your symptoms worsen during each shift or over a roster period • note if there is any improvement away from work • teach you how to measure and record a peak flow measurement. This measures how fast you can breathe out and tells you how wide your breathing tubes are. It is best done four times a day for a two-week period, which should cover time at work and time away from work.
Elimination
Can the substance or process be changed for something less harmful? For example, one electronics firm eliminated soldering by riveting components to circuit boards.
Isolation
Can the substance or process be isolated to a special place in the worksite or time of day when most people will not be exposed? A manufacturer restricts its production of playground rubber mats to a period at the end of the day when most of the staff are off work. By the time the staff return the next day the fumes have gone.
Minimisation
Can the equipment be improved to reduce the exposure? A joinery factory improved its ventilation and extraction equipment to reduce dust levels. This is always a better method than relying on masks for protection.
What can you or your employer do if you aren’t sure there is a problem at work?
The Occupational Safety and Health Service of the Department of Labour (OSH) can be contacted under “L” (Labour, Department of) in the telephone book for advice. They have the resources to provide information and advice about workplace hazards and the best (and most practicable) means of controlling these problems if they exist. Your union may also be able to offer help. The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ is a not-for-profit organisation committed to those affected by asthma and other respiratory illness. For further information or free resources visit asthmaandrespiratory.org.nz or call 04 499 4592
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HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES
Making risk and hazard registers work is a labour of love Should the risk/hazard register development process be just an appeasement process to satisfy the law or a proactive management tool to improve the safety of the business, asks Gordon Anderson?
T
he consequences of treating it as an appeasement exercise may well have exposed a contractor to a very high level of commercial risk, especially if there had been a serious injury or worse, in his operations. There are many ways to approach the risk/hazard management process and every H&S manager or H&S advisory will address it in a different way – though usually with the same outcome. Regardless of the approach, there are several points to consider. The first is that it is the responsibility of the owner of the business, the PCBU, to ensure the safety of all in the workplace; hence the development or the risk/hazard registers for the identification and management of the risks. A second party can work with the business, but it’s the PCBU’s responsibility to ensure that they are fit for purpose for the business – it can no longer be contracted out. The second point is that the completed risk/hazard register must be a ‘living and changing’ document that should be reviewed on a scheduled basis. It’s designed to provide the business with a plan for the continual improvement of the H&S and general safety plans and improvement of the business. There are several simple steps to follow to develop an effective risk/ hazard register, though there’s no set rule as to what it should look like.
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However, it should be set out so others can follow the logic and its application because it can provide you with a very good training process. Begin with involving your employees. You’re required by law to do this, but you also don’t have a mortgage on knowledge – your employees are also experts in their own right. Train yourself and your employees in risk/hazard definitions and risk management methods (see table). Although the highlighted terms are not included in the new HSAW Act, I recommend that you learn how they are applicable to risk management and then apply them as they will provide you with a good insight to the following ideas.
ed with your business processes, activities, machinery, equipment and work areas, including the administration section.
Source or develop a risk register
I suggest that you have a separate register for every risk/hazard and either use a paper-based system or an electronic tablet to record the information. Break the register into a number of columns for ease of layout and management.
Applying notifiable events
Use this new Health and Safety at Work Act definition as a benchmark when examining your business processes or operations to determine if there are any actual
Zealand as soon as you become aware of them.
Causal factors
In my opinion it is an essential step in the development of your future risk control plans. In the next column of the risk register record all the reasons why the notifiable event could happen – is it because of lack of guarding, procedures, training, certification, PPE, maintenance, resources or other factors? Brainstorming these causal factors with your employees will provide you with an easy method to start to consider the most appropriate controls for the risk/ hazard. If you identify these factors all you need to do is to swing them
Process analysis
Harm
Hazard
Actual or potential harm
Significant risk /hazard
Notifiable event
Risk management
All reasonable practicable steps
Risk control methods
Process monitoring
Risk assessment/rating Risk register
Conduct a process and task analysis
This step requires planning in conjunction with your employees, and involves a structured identification and examination of every step, activity and task in your business or the compartment. This will identify all the actual and potential risks and hazards associat-
or potential risks. Ask yourself the following question. “Could any of the notifiable events happen in this part of my business process?” If the answer is yes, then record it and act on it because if any of these events happen while you are operating your business they are required to be reported to WorkSafe New
180 degrees for a possible solution for the risk control. For example: • no procedures – develop procedures • no guarding – design, develop and fit guarding • no maintenance – develop a maintenance programme.
HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES
Risk rating
There are number of methods to do this but I suggest a Risk Rating Matrix. This will allow you to determine the Likelihood x Consequences of the risk occurring, a risk rating of the actual or potential impact and in turn a risk priority for deciding what risks/ hazards need to be prioritised for action first. There are many different risk rating matrixes available, and it doesn’t matter which one you use as the purpose is to provide you with an indicator of the likelihood of the risk/hazard to cause harm.
Risk hazard controls
most reasonable practicable risk controls in your register.
Document information sources
Qualify where you sourced and referenced the risk control information and document this on your risk control plan.
The risk control plan
It’s a living document that should be reviewed on a scheduled basis or sooner, especially if there is an incident or accident. You may find it easier to break it down into a number of steps for action.
gate employees to act on certain steps. Don’t forget to allocate time frames for completion and stick to them. In other words, who is going to do what by when? In many cases the work you undertake will be the same so your risk registers can be used as generic documents for different situations and applied accordingly. The difference will be the identification of any new risks/ hazards that can be documented and managed accordingly.
Cost allocation
The benefit of this approach
There are two parts to this, the information and the document control plan. Firstly, reasonable practicable controls. Is the knowledge you have gained or know about the risk/ hazard from your training, industry and work experience, exposure or instincts, good enough to be used as your controls? Does practice make perfect? In some cases it does, but usually it makes it permanent.
“Treat risk/hazard management as a plan that is designed to be used as a document to improve your safety management, the protection of yourself and your employees and for the continuous improvement of your business”
Accepted codes of practice
Remember that you have two options for the control of the risks – eliminate the risk hazard, which is the primary goal, or minimise it. Minimise it by using one or a combination of the following options: • substitute it for a softer option – e.g. water-based paints as opposed to isocyanate paints • engineer it – replace machinery, guarding, barriers robots etc. • develop administration controls – training, procedures, job rotation, software • use PPE as the final option. From this you can prioritise the steps and where applicable, dele-
While your experience is acceptable, it’s important that you also seek out the body of recognised knowledge or authority that has been documented by your industry or others. I can’t stress this enough as this is what you will be questioned about if you are ever held to account for a workplace accident. This is where the information and recommendations from accepted industry codes of practice (ACOPs) standards, fact sheets and other recognised sources of information must be applied and documented to establish the
is that the control plan can also include a cost column for each control, and this then allows you to determine or allocate budget to action the plan.
Pre- and post-assessment
This is an important part of the risk/hazard management process. As you set the controls in place it is important to ensure that they are effective. To do this, I suggest that you set up an alerting process, especially for high-risk hazards, and revaluate these to see if their implementation has been effective. This can also be undertaken at your tailgate
meetings with your employees’ involvement.
Communication of the risk register and the management controls
The key action point when developing your risk/hazard register is what do you do with it? While it’s important to address and manage the identified risks, how do you communicate the management of the risks/hazards to your employees who will be affected? Simply develop your safe operating procedures (SOPs), incorporate the actual or potential risks/hazards in the SOPs and then train your employees.
Monitoring
Many businesses now have a pre-work safety briefing and this is the place to review the registers and to identify any others. I cannot stress enough the need to regularly review the effectiveness of your H&S risk management processes. Finally, don’t treat your risk register as just something you have to do because the 2015 Health and Safety at Work Act requires it or to satisfy a WorkSafe New Zealand inspector. It should be a key part of your business risk management processes. Treat risk/hazard management as a plan that is designed to be used as a document to improve your safety management, the protection of yourself and your employees, for the continuous improvement of your business, your investment, and for the protection of your families. Gordon Anderson is the managing director of Hasmate Ltd, which offers web-based compliance and risk management programmes across New Zealand
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COMMENT
LAW
Tradies turning houses into workplaces Health and safety risks are just as prevalent in the home as they are in many workplaces – if not more so
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COMMENT
H
owever, it is not until a home becomes a workplace that health and safety obligations arise under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA). Under the HSWA, home occupiers have no obligations to ensure that tradespeople (or tradies) working in their home are able to perform their tasks in a healthy and safe manner. By contrast, tradies must ensure not only their own health and safety during the performance of the work but also the health and safety of people at the home – including the home occupier. In many cases, tradies will never have seen the location where they will be performing the work or know the exact extent of the work before they arrive at the location. There are limited opportunities to prepare for or manage risks to health and safety in advance. In addition, there will often be no written contract between the parties setting out health and safety requirements and obligations. This article outlines legal requirements around residen-
tial work under the HSWA, and provides some practical guidance for people managing health and safety obligations while working in residential properties.
Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
Section 17(b)(iii) of the HSWA provides that a ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (PCBU) does not include an occupier of a home to the extent that the occupier employs or engages another person solely to do ‘residential work’. Residential work is defined in section 16 of the HSWA as ‘work done by a person employed or engaged by the occupier of a home of either or both of the following kinds: (a) domestic work done or to be done in the home; or (b) work done or to be done in respect of the home.’
Tradies
The definition of residential work above encompasses all manner of work that people may be engaged to do around the home. This would
include cleaners, pool contractors, gardeners, and any other people engaged for everyday home maintenance. Work done ‘in respect of the home’ would also cover any tradespeople such as builders, electricians or plumbers.
LAW
them. They must be appropriately trained, and have health and safety systems and policies in place to ensure they and their workers can perform the work in a healthy and safe manner. Tradies doing residential work
“Tradies must ensure not only their own health and safety during the performance of the work but also the health and safety of people at the home – including the home occupier” Many tradies own their own businesses, and thus would be a PCBU under the HSWA. Under section 36 of the HSWA, when performing work in a residential property for a home occupier, they must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of themselves, their workers and any other people who may be put at risk from work carried out by
who are not PCBUs must also look after their own health and safety, and take reasonable care to ensure their acts or omissions do not adversely affect other people’s health and safety (section 45 of the HSWA). This includes an obligation to comply with any policies and systems set by the PCBU around health and safety. At a minimum, for tradies to
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comply with their obligations under HSWA when preparing for and performing residential work they must have and comply with health and safety polices and systems requiring them to: • assess the property and the work required so they can consider and prepare for any hazards they may face while performing the work • have the appropriate training and skills • have any safety equipment necessary • stop and reconsider how/whether to approach any work they do not believe they can achieve in a healthy and safe manner.
Home occupiers
As indicated, home occupiers are not PCBUs, nor are they “workers” or any other type of duty holder under the HSWA. They are not obliged to ensure that tradies are able to safely perform the work they have been engaged to do, and should be able to reply on the tradies’ skills and experience to ensure their own safety. The only exception is if the home occupier works from home, making it a workplace and creating health and safety obligations that would normally apply to them as a PCBU or a worker. Despite there not being obligations under the HSWA, an occupier is still obliged to take reasonable care to ensure that “any visitor to their premises is reasonably safe in using the premises, for the purposes for which they are invited or permitted to be there”. This obligation is enshrined in the (almost antique) Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962, which recognises the right of visitors (including tradies) to claim for any damages suffered if the home occupier breaches his or her duties under this legislation. Practically speaking, while home occupiers have no obligations under HSWA when engaging tradies, they should: • engage tradies that are competent and appropriately qualified to do the work they are being asked to complete • follow any instructions given by the tradies during the performance of the work • remove or alert the tradies to any risks they are likely to face during the performance of the work (such as chemicals, trip and slip hazards, obstructions or large/aggressive dogs).
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Landlords and property managers
Under the HSWA, property managers and landlords are PCBUs with obligations to ensure the health and safety of everybody involved with or affected by work on properties they are responsible for. As a duty holder, they must ensure tradies they engage are competent and appropriately qualified to do that work. However, property managers and landlords are not expected to become experts themselves or to try and manage everything for the tradies. As with other PCBUs, who may not have direct access to a workplace, they need to focus on what they can reasonably influence and control.
Application
To put home occupiers’ and tradies’ obligations into context, picture the following scenario: Client: Hello, can I please book an electrician to come and do some jobs around my home? Operator: Certainly, what jobs need doing? Client: Well I need a pendant light hung and an aerial removed from the roof. Operator: Not a problem… Upon arrival at the client’s home, the electrician discovers that: • the pendant is to be hung from a four-metre high ceiling • the aerial needing removal is on the second storey of the house, on a steeply pitched roof
• the crawl space in the ceiling that the electrician will need to access has rat poison in numerous locations (luckily not asbestos!) • the client also wants the electrician to change some light bulbs that have fused to their sockets and need to be shattered to be changed. The home occupier in the above scenario is not obliged to ensure that the electrician can perform the requested tasks in a healthy and safe manner. However, they should warn the electrician about the rat poison before the electrician goes up into the roof space. It is up to the electrician to ensure that he/she can work safely at the heights required to complete the tasks, can avoid any potentially harmful chemicals, and can safely extract the light bulbs from their sockets without causing injury. Electricians are usually prepared to work at heights, but the steep pitch of the roof and height of the ceilings in this scenario is likely to require specialised equipment. The HSWA requires controls to be put in place where there is any risk of a fall from any height. It also does not matter if the job will only take a short time. The electrician in this scenario should technically consider controls such as working platforms, edge protection or scaffolds, and if those are not reasonably practicable, whether using a safety harness or other “work positioning
system” will sufficiently isolate the risk of a fall. If a tradie arrives at a home and discovers that they cannot perform the work in a healthy and safe manner, then they should not perform the work until they have the equipment or training necessary to do so. This would be the last thing busy tradies or their clients would want (particularly if two call-out fees are charged!). However, a small amount of due diligence could easily help to prevent this occurring. For example: • if a tradie is being asked to provide a quote, they could take the opportunity to assess the property for health and safety and ensure that they are prepared when they return to perform the work • if the work is being organised by phone, the operator could make some enquiries to ensure the tradie will be prepared for expected hazards when they arrive. Using the scenario above once more, the operator could reasonably have made further enquiries about the job before sending the electrician out to perform the work. For example, they could have asked: • how high are the ceilings the electrician will need to reach? • will the electrician need to get on the roof to remove the aerial, what is the roof made of and how steep is it? • will the electrician need to use the ceiling space, are there any hazards there that he/ she will need to consider? • are there any other jobs that need doing? For the cost of a few minutes on the phone, or some extra consideration when preparing a quote, tradies can be more prepared for risks to health and safety they may face on the job. This is important, because they are responsible to ensure all parties’ health and safety during the performance of the work. As always, health and safety should be paramount, and no job is more important than ensuring that everyone affected remains safe. This article was written by Sherridan Cook (partner) and Alexandra Wallace (senior solicitor) at Buddle Findlay, one of New Zealand’s leading commercial law and public law firms with offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Sherridan and Alexandra specialise in health and safety, and employment law
MANAGEMENT
To love and to hold until …. If only there would be a way to insure against your best people leaving
A
recent survey of almost 1400 employers and employees by recruitment company Hudson found 41 per cent of employees were actively seeking a new job and another 34 per cent were doing so passively. In addition, there was a 20 per cent increase in the number of people seeking new roles compared to the first half of the year. The main reasons for wanting to leave? Boredom and lack of career progression! Contrary to popular opinion, boredom is not an expression of having nothing or too little to do. Boredom arises when what you do has no or little meaning for you. Unfortunately, there are still managers who claim no responsibility for employees’ engagement and experiences of boredom. Some supervisors continue to believe that motivation is largely about money, perks and benefits – we know, however, that this doesn’t paint the complete picture. In addition to fair pay, people expect: • challenging and meaningful work • a chance to learn and grow (professionally and personally) • great co-workers • recognition and respect • a boss who is ‘with’ them and not ‘against’ them. Managers, supervisors and team leaders can clearly influence these factors. Of course, senior leadership and organisational policies matter too – and so does the general life attitude of each employee who needs to take responsibility for their own satisfaction. Any way you look at it, your most valuable employees (those high potentials as well as your solid performers) will leave (physically or psychologically) if they are not growing and having meaningful experiences. Because people differ in what they see as ‘meaningful’ and as ‘career’, the best thing a leader can do is ask the right questions – questions that explore, rather than looking for confirmation of established assumptions.
Avoid assumptions
Typical assumptions are: • they are happy in their current job - after all, they nev-
er said anything else • they can’t really expect to move up the career ladder, they just don’t have the educational background needed • he said that’s all he ever wanted to do - so why change things for him? • we have a flat organisational structure, and without a degree they can’t move into management anyway • we can’t all be leaders, you must have doers and that’s what they applied for • I think she is assertive enough to tell me when she wants something, so I will wait for her to speak up • if I support their growth, they will leave and I have to start again. Leaders that are ‘with’ their people will ask, dig deeper and listen rather than assume and jump to conclusions. At times it takes creativity and thinking outside the square of ‘what we have always done’ to take the action needed to help create meaning and growth opportunities. Companies that focus on an entire culture of career growth and learning outperform their peers in innovation, long-term growth, and employee retention. Helping employees reach their goals, find meaning in their work and stay engaged with the organisation can mean helping them consider moves they may not have taken seriously before. Ask key questions to help them see what they could gain by trying a move that is not simply a vertical step. Together leaders and employees might surface choices that had not previously been considered. One key aspect of experiencing recognition and great co-workers is having fun at work. However, when
“Companies that focus on an entire culture of career growth and learning outperform their peers in innovation, long-term growth, and employee retention” looking at previously not considered possibilities, it is not unusual to fall into the trap of taking myths for reality. Three common myths that need debunking are:
It takes material and a budget to have fun at work
When asked to remember fun times at work, people tend to remember occasions that cost no or very little money – decorating the workspace of a colleague for his/her birthday, verbal sparring with brainy/funny colleagues etc.
Fun means laughter
Often people can have fun at work by working on an intriguing task, collaborating with wonderful team mates or building something new.
Try asking your employees these questions: What do you enjoy most about your job? What could be changed in your job to make it more satisfying? Which of your current tasks is the most routine? What other areas of the company are you interested in? Whose job would you like to learn more about?
Fun time at work will compromise results
Research verifies that fun-loving environments are actually more productive than their humourless counterparts. A fun break can reenergise employees and ready them for the next concentrated effort. Like most relationships, there really is no’ insurance’ that prevents employees from leaving either physically or psychologically. What exists, however, is the knowledge that all employees are human beings looking for meaning in their daily work, for chances to learn and develop, opportunities to relate to others, to be recognised and respected. Leaders who see their employees as people rather than as ‘resources’ to do a job are more likely to grow and hold on to their valuable employees – and in turn themselves experience challenging and meaningful work with chances to grow, enjoy great co-workers, gain respect, and have fun along the way. Dr Andrea Polzer-Debruyne is senior consultant at PeopleCentric, a group of psychologists that works with organisations in a variety of industries towards increasing individual and organisational capabilities, employee engagement and leadership development www.isn.co.nz
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FOCUS
Taking technology to trees
Innovative technology is keeping pace with the increasing New Zealand forest harvest to keep forest industry workers out of harm’s way, Keith Raymond explains
Hands off: remote control of a John Deere 909 feller buncher
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SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2016
FOCUS
N
ew equipment is starting to be seen out on the slopes as a result of Future Forests Research Limited’s Steepland Harvesting Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme. The programme was instituted in 2010 to meet the diverse challenges of steep terrain forest harvesting that is in many ways unique to New Zealand. Large areas of forest planted in the 1990s are reaching harvesting age from 2017 onwards and as harvesting increasingly moves into these forests on steeper land and in smaller, more isolated holdings, the challenges of maintaining international cost competitiveness and safe operations will mount. Six years ago the New Zealand forestry sector and the Ministry for Primary Industries identified steep country harvesting as the main bottleneck to achieving greater profitability in forestry. Worker safety is also a major issue. The forest industry has had a serious safety problem for far too long, with a long-term average fatality rate of five deaths per year and an annual serious harm injury rate of one for every 35 workers. Tree felling and breaking out (hooking tree stems to cables) tasks have been identified as the most commonly involved in fatalities and serious harm injuries. Steep land harvesting has higher risks than harvesting on flat land, mainly due to the higher work requirements and the difficulty of operating machines on steep slopes. Steep country forests contribute about half of New Zealand’s total annual harvest volume and, according to the industry incident reporting scheme, almost 40 per cent of forestry fatalities over the last five years. Harvesting operations on steep terrain need to keep pace with work demands and technology developments to make harvesting safer and reduce costs. Mechanisation has been seen as the solution to these problems, as it is more productive than manual operations and removes people from the hazards of tree felling and breaking out where most accidents happen. As a result, Future Forests Research Limited (FFR) formed a Primary Growth Partnership six years ago with the Ministry for Primary Industries in steep land harvesting to realise the vision of ‘no worker on the slope, no hand
Greedy grabber: a tree-to-tree robotic felling machine prototype
on the chainsaw’. This vision is being achieved by developing innovative harvesting technologies to realise substantial productivity gains and improve worker safety in steep terrain harvesting in New Zealand. The Steepland Harvesting PGP programme is an alliance between the government, forest owners, engineering companies and research providers to develop equipment that will reduce cable logging costs, make harvesting jobs safer, and expand the harvesting equipment manufacturing industry. When fully implemented the programme will reduce cable harvesting costs by 25 per cent. This will create operational savings of $8.00 per cubic metre of wood produced, and machinery sales resulting in direct economic benefits of over $128 million by 2019, as well as reducing logging injury rates.
Achievements to date
Now commencing the seventh and final year of the programme, the Forest Grower Levy Trust and
FFR industry members have committed to funding the research, bringing the total industry funding in 2016/17 to $0.63 million, which will be supported by $0.42 million by the Ministry for Primary Industries to provide a funding base of $1.05 million in total. The development work has been split into three programmes – mechanisation on steep terrain, increased productivity of cable extraction and development of operational efficiencies. Six years down the track, there are a number of project achievements that all include elements of remote control and teleoperation: • Alpine Grapple – a lightweight remote-operated grapple carriage • CutoverCam – a remote-operated hauler vision system • teleoperation of a John Deere feller buncher • teleoperation of a prototype Tree-to-Tree Felling Machine • Skyshifter – a remote-controlled Twin Winch Tail Hold Carriage • a remote-controlled powered felling wedge.
Alpine Grapple Carriage – for remote-controlled, lowcost grapple yarding A new hydraulic grapple carriage, aimed at improving grapple control, has been developed which increases the productivity of cable extraction and eliminates manual breaking out. The prototype Alpine Grapple carriage was made by Alpine Logging Ltd of South Africa, and was field tested here and modified to make it more suitable for New Zealand logging conditions. As it is non-motorised, the Alpine Grapple has a lower capital cost, is lighter in weight and cheaper to run than conventional motorised grapples. It is suitable for running on existing two-drum cable haulers and swing yarders. The Alpine Grapple is available commercially from LogPro Limited, Alpine’s local agent, which has sold 13 units in New Zealand to date. CutoverCam – streaming live video into the yarder cab Breaking out in cable logging is one of the most dangerous www.isn.co.nz
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harvesting tasks, often because the visibility of ground operations from the hauler is limited. The next product commercialised as part of the Steepland Harvesting PGP programme was the CutoverCam, an advanced hauler vision system. This is a camera located on the cutover and linked by Internet Protocol and Wi-Fi technology to a screen in the hauler cab and streams live video of the hauler operation to the operator. With this system, the days are over of the hauler operator relying on radio and “Talkie Tooter” signals. The hauler operator now has high resolution video coverage of the breaking out zone, and can control the camera remotely to pan from side-to-side, tilt up and down or zoom in and out to see where personnel are on the cutover before beginning the cable inhaul cycle. This product has a very direct safety focus and has the potential to improve the productivity of cable harvesting by reducing delays in positioning cable rigging. It’s marketed by Cutover Systems Ltd in Rotorua and two units have been sold. Teleoperation of a John Deere feller buncher – the future of tree felling? The initial outputs of the programme involved further developing technology which to some extent was already there, to get early gains for the industry. Over the last year some really exciting and novel products have changed the way steep terrain harvesting will be undertaken in the future. Completely new systems are being developed that include remote control and teleoperation – control beyond line of sight – of a commercial feller buncher. A remote control system was installed into a John Deere model 909 feller buncher in 2015. The first stage of this remote-controlled tree felling project was achieved in June 2014 and the initial field testing showed promise. The application of remote control to a tracked feller buncher on steep terrain was believed to be a world first. The next stage of the project saw the team build an operator console to teleoperate the John Deere feller buncher, so the operator can sit in comfort, outside of line of sight, and operate the machine. This full teleoperation control system was completed and installed in early July 2016 in Ross Wood’s John Deere 909 feller buncher in Nelson. 22
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New Primary Growth Partnership harvest technology targets safety Safe and sound: the feller buncher works at a safe distance from the operator in the cabin
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ew forest harvesting technology that sees trees felled and bunched beyond line of sight to further increase safety in steep land harvesting operations has been unveiled in Nelson. The new ‘teleoperation’ technology provides outof-harm’s way operation of a purpose-built tracked feller-buncher forest harvester, from the safety of a separate cabin and console. The breakthrough is part of Steepland Harvesting, a six-year, $6 million Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme between the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and a consortium of forestry companies and contractors, led by Future Forests Research Ltd (FFR). “The successful development, installation and demonstration of the teleoperated harvester builds on the Steepland Harvesting programme’s successful integration of remote control technology into a forest harvester in 2015,” Associate Primary Industries Minister Jo Goodhew explains. “Teleoperation of the tracked harvester enables trees to be felled and bunched by remote control, beyond line of sight on steep slopes, which is believed to be a world first.” She says it marks a big advance in the safety of forestry harvesting operations, while improving the operator’s environment and potentially increasing productivity. “It is a fantastic achievement for the
Steepland Harvesting PGP programme and for New Zealand’s forest industry as a whole.” The Steepland Harvesting programme has delivered a number of innovations aimed at keeping forest workers safe, while increasing harvesting productivity. This includes development of the ClimbMAX harvester, a ground-based, winch-assisted machine which can fell and bunch trees on steep slopes of up to 45 degrees. “Eight of the million-dollar ClimbMAX harvesters are now operating commercially in Canada and New Zealand, with the ninth machine recently shipped to Canada, and the first machine sold into the United States is currently being built.” Successful commissioning of the teleoperation control system is the latest result from three-anda-half years of design and engineering research and development by the FFR team involving Scion, Cutover Systems Limited and ADM Design Ltd, working with harvesting contractors Ross Wood and Simon Rayward of Wood Contracting Nelson Ltd. “The Steepland Harvesting programme, and this latest innovation in harvesting technology, is a clear example of the value of government and industry working together to keep forestry workers safe and improve productivity in forest operations,” Goodhew adds.
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A remote control unit (RCU) was also installed in the Volvo EC290 mobile tail-hold machine in the same operation in Nelson. Three cameras have been installed in the tail-hold machine to give better vision of the tracks via the camera control and monitor installed in the hauler to enable full visibility and control of the machine from the hauler cab. Testing is now underway. Further commercialisation of the teleoperation control system is planned as part of the extension to the Steepland Harvesting PGP programme. Teleoperation of a Tree-to-Tree Felling Machine – the “Stick Insect” FFR has also been working with Scion and the University of Canterbury mechatronics programme to develop a prototype sensorguided, bi-ped felling machine for steep country. This machine will move from tree-to-tree without touching the ground, thanks to its mechanical claws. FFR’s ultimate objective is to combine the teleoperation control system and sophisticated sensing technology for semi-autonomous teleoperation of this robot from safe working distances, reducing risk to harvesting workers. Proof of concept has been demonstrated, but considerable further development is needed of
Hold Carriage by Awdon Technologies Ltd of Gisborne will enable skyline shifting to be undertaken remotely from the yarder cab. Construction of the ‘beta prototype’ Skyshifter carriage has been completed and field tested and full production trials were successfully undertaken in July this year. Remote-controlled powered felling wedge – for safe manual tree felling The remote-controlled felling wedge enables safer manual tree felling, improved directional felling, reduced tree breakage and improved grapple extraction productivity. The wedge will allow the faller to move away from the tree before the tree falls, thus improving safety. Key developer Dr Paul Milliken of Cutover Systems Ltd has constructed a prototype and modifications are being made as a result of the recent production field trials. An early adopter harvesting contractor who has ordered two manual tree-felling wedges to be converted with the remote-controlled power pack is likely to be the ‘user champion’ for the product.
Pleasing progress
These six new products are fulfilling the desired outcomes of the original Steepland Harvesting
“Tree felling and breaking out (hooking tree stems to cables) tasks have been identified as the most commonly involved in fatalities and serious harm injuries” an applied research or engineering nature. The current prototype may be adequate for an initial market opportunity for thinning plantations or for tree measurement. Remote-controlled Twin Winch Tail Hold Carriage – for efficient skyline shifting Another product of the Steepland Harvesting PGP programme is an innovative yarding carriage for remote-controlled shifting of the cable yarder skyline. Shifting the skyline is a time-consuming, difficult and potentially hazardous task. The development of the Skyshifter Twin Winch Tail 24
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PGP business plan, to reduce harvesting costs and improve safety. Removing manual tree fallers from hazards has resulted in many contractor operations using mechanical felling now being accident-free. Where manual tree felling is still required, the remote-controlled powered felling wedge will improve safety of this operation. Remote controlled grapple extraction has clear advantages over manual breaking out with chokers. These advantages include being very productive over short distances, and being safer by eliminating manual breaking out.
An FFR study in 2013 showed that in manually felled (unbunched) trees the productivity of the Alpine Grapple at haul distances of up to 250 metres exceeded that of the manual breaking out system by 35 per cent. The cost of extraction was also lower by $3.00 per cubic metre. The key to improving hauler productivity is bunching trees for extraction. The study found that the productivity of grapple yarding doubled compared to extracting unbunched trees with a grapple, due to 50 per cent larger haul size in bunched wood. The programme has clearly demonstrated the safety, productivity and cost advantages of mechanised felling and grapple extraction. Forest owners are starting to adopt these systems more widely, wherever terrain and safety considerations allow, as they lead to safer operations, improved hauler productivity and reduced costs. The Steepland Harvesting PGP programme is starting to change the face of forest harvesting in New Zealand. When FFR began in 2007, there was little innovation in harvesting. Since 2010, the programme has become a catalyst to get others to think more innovatively about all aspects of tree felling and extraction. It has catalysed a new wave of innovation in steep terrain operations. The emergence of other winch-assisted harvesters, new remote-controlled grapples with camera vision systems and GPS tracking are all examples of industry innovators seeking to modify operating techniques, improve safety and reduce the cost of harvesting, and this is a promising sign for future innovation. One example is the development of more than 50 other traction-winch assisted machines in New Zealand. These cable-assist machines are remote-controlled and feature camera systems on the winch drums and sensor warning systems. Over the last five years this major investment in feller bunchers and cable-assist machines by contractors has seen the level of mechanised felling, as recorded in the FFR benchmarking database, increase from 23 per cent of all harvesting operations in 2009 to 38 per cent in 2014, and up to 57 per cent in 2015. The use of remote-controlled grapples to mechanise cable
extraction and remove manual workers from hazards, has increased, with development of other grapple carriages such as the Falcon Forestry Claw, from DC Equipment Ltd in Nelson, of which over 25 units have been sold. A whole new area of commercial opportunity has also opened up using state-of-the-art cameras mounted to grapple carriages, winch drums and other logging equipment. Over 50 camera systems have been sold for use on logging equipment in New Zealand. An external review of the commercialisation of FFR projects in the Steepland Harvesting PGP programme was undertaken in February this year by Geoff Todd, a commercialisation specialist from Viclink, the Victoria University technology transfer office. Several of the recommendations from the review involved further work by FFR to engage more business development support for the various technology developers in the projects. The Programme Steering Group for the Steepland Harvesting PGP programme supported the recommendations of the review and directed FFR to submit a proposal to the Primary Growth Partnership for a one-year extension to the Steepland Harvesting PGP programme to action these recommendations. The programme extension in the 2016/17 year will focus on commercialisation of the following technology products, among others from the programme: • the teleoperation control system • the CutoverCam hauler vision system • the Awdon Skyshifter tail hold carriage • the remote-controlled powered felling wedge The extent to which the programme has been a catalyst for changing industry practice is only starting to be realised across the industry. This programme could become a focus for improved health and safety as well as productivity improvements in the industry for many years to come. Keith Raymond is harvesting and logistics programme manager at Future Forests Research Ltd, which was formed in 2007 by the forest industry to coordinate industry input and funding of relevant forestry research programmes
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Drive and dedication helps an innovative concept come to fruition The successful implementation of the teleoperation concept is largely down to one man and his commitment to developing innovative tree harvesting technology
All-seeing eyes: cameras mounted on the inside of the windscreen give the operator a perfect view of the feller buncher in operation
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oss Wood is one of the most respected loggers in New Zealand, given his long service to the logging industry and leadership in the development and implementation of new and exciting harvesting methods for steep slope harvesting, such as the first winch-assisted felling machine in New Zealand. He has been operating winch-assisted feller bunchers since 2006, but he recognised that as the
terrain got steeper and more challenging he needed to look at remote-control technology to give his workers a more sustainable – and safer – working environment. Ross and his business partner Simon Rayward moved to further improve safety of harvesting operations and improve recruitment of young technically competent workers through actively by participating in the development of remote control and teleoperation
technology. They realised the potential of remote control and teleoperation of felling machines and became active partners in the Future Forests Research Ltd’s (FFR) Teleoperated Felling Machine Project, offering their John Deere 909 feller buncher to FFR for developing this teleoperation system. The duo began by installing remote control into their John Deere 909 feller buncher last year and
more recently in the installation of remote control of the Volvo 290 mobile tail hold machine. “Without this in-kind contribution this project would never have been implemented,” FFR Harvesting and Logistics Programme Manager Keith Raymond believes. Their efforts were rewarded with the completed development of the first fully teleoperated feller buncher in New Zealand at Wood and Rayward’s Wood Contractwww.isn.co.nz
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ing Nelson Ltd block in Moutere Forest, Wakefield, that is part of 32,400 ha of plantation forest originally established by Baigents of Nelson. “Remote control of bulldozers and mining machines is common in the mining industry, but this is believed to be the first fully teleoperated tracked feller buncher in the forest industry anywhere in the world,” Raymond explains. The successful demonstration was also due to the efforts of FFR developers Dr Paul Milliken of Cutover Systems Ltd and Daniel Lamborn and Allister Keast of ADM Design, who worked to take this project from remote control to the next step, full teleoperation (control outside line of sight). “The aim of this project is to employ remote control and teleoperation where terrain, ground roughness or soil type limits the use of safe manned felling and bunching machine operation,” Raymond says. The teleoperation project is a step toward FFR’s vision of “no worker on the slope, no hand on the chainsaw”, removing workers from hazardous situations. The benefits of this project will be two-fold: • to enable the operator to be
isolated from the hazards of tree felling by providing the choice to operate the machine either in the machine cab or from the operator console at a remote location • to provide opportunities for improved productivity through development of new technologies for the next stage of machine development: cab-less machine designs. Teleoperation unleashes the operator from the cab and thereby increases available operating time, Raymond notes. “Lighter weight machines with lower centre of gravity will also improve stability, reduce fuel consumption and minimise soil disturbance.” The teleoperation project began in 2011 with feasibility assessments and some design work that included the investigation of alternatives such as “off-the-shelf” remote control systems for bulldozer applications. “However, it was decided that a New Zealand-led development project would be lower unit cost and lead to more uptake by harvesting contractors.”
Project timeline
The Teleoperation Control System project was split into two main tasks: • teleoperation of hydrau-
lic-over-hydraulic type machines (UC Mechatronics) and teleoperation of a John Deere 909 electric-over-hydraulic controlled machine • development of a tree-totree mobility system (dubbed the “Stick Insect”). The Task A section of the project began in three stages after the initial phases of project feasibility analysis and development planning: • Stage 1 – develop a remote control to manage some of the functions of the John Deere 909 feller buncher within line of sight • Stage 2 – further develop the remote control to include video feedback from one camera mounted in the cab • Stage 3 – develop full teleoperation where the operator is sitting in a control console at the worksite in a duplicate original John Deere operator seat in front of large video monitors controlling the feller buncher outside line of sight.
Stage 1 – developing the first remote-control unit
• it was developed to NZS4240 – the New Zealand standard for remote-controlled mining equipment
Distance driver: the remote control unit (RCU) for the John Deere 909 feller buncher
• the first step was to understand the machine and method of interfacing with the electronics on the machine • it was designed initially around machine protection • the remote control unit (RCU) consists of two joysticks with a separate emergency stop system • an aerial for communications was shielded to protect the operator • communication monitoring ensured the link between the remote control and the machine was stable • a controller was developed for the machine to receive messages from the remote control • a trapped key system only allows remote control or in-cab machine operation at one time. Stage 1 was completed in June 2014.
Stage 2 – developing video feedback
• a pan, tilt and zoom camera was installed in the feller buncher cab • a 25-cm video display was added to the remote control unit • the 900MHz band was selected for communication • low video latency (delay) was applied • machine gauges and status lights are displayed on the remote control unit. Stage 2 was completed in June 2015.
Stage 3 – developing operator cabin and console for full teleoperation
• four cameras were installed on the feller buncher • numerous improvements were made to the electronics • a trailer was built and fitted out as a teleoperation console • three large video screens were installed to provide video feedback • audio feedback was implemented • John Deere made an in-kind contribution of a John Deere 909 seat including joysticks and foot pedals, which was installed in the operator cabin • safety documentation was completed for each subsystem in the Teleoperation Control System for the John Deere 909 Feller Buncher. Stage 3 was completed June 2016.
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ENVIRONMENT SECURITY
Innovative radio technology keeps New Zealand’s firefighters safe Firefighters serving with the New Zealand Fire Service will benefit from improved safety and communication while working in fire grounds through an innovative two-way radio solution
Breathe easy: the New Zealand Fire Service is to receive 4,500 innovative two-way radios that will enable the service’s 10,000 career and volunteer firefighters to stay connected to their colleagues in the field
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he new system from Motorola Solutions and Spark will enable the service’s 10,000 career and volunteer firefighters to stay connected to their colleagues in the field via reliable and robust voice communication. The fire service will receive more than 4,500 new radios designed for use in the most severe fire ground environments, which will undoubtedly prove extremely useful for an organisation that attended more than 73,000 incidents last year alone. A major feature of the solution is a cornerstone Motorola Solutions innovation, a remote speaker microphone that will be fully integrated within firefighters’ breathing apparatus. This will be combined with the radio’s convenient push-to-talk
button, which enables firefighters to communicate easily and safely in the harshest conditions. The radios feature enhanced audio with windporting to ensure that the wearer’s voice is heard clearly and not any surrounding noise. Exaggerated controls allow easy transmission even while wearing protective gear, while the rugged housing includes emergency and volume controls that are large for quick access but protected to avoid accidental activation. New Zealand Fire Service Chief Executive & National Commander Paul Baxter says communication is critical to safety on the incident ground, and much of that communication comes from the use of incident ground control (IGC) radio. “That’s why we were so exacting in our requirements for these new
radios,” he adds. “The radios will help us to resolve radio interface issues with firefighters’ breathing apparatus while also delivering improved noise cancellation and battery life.” By using a combination of single and multiband radios operating across both VHF and UHF bands, the solution aligns with the fire service’s vision of leading integrated fire and emergency services for a safer New Zealand. “This radio solution enables us to move away from using a mix of models and frequencies and toward a nationally consistent standard that will make it easier to work with our emergency service partners,” Baxter explains. New Zealand Fire Service Director ICT Murray Mitchell says the service wanted a solution that
is safe, easy to use and doesn’t distract firefighters from their work during critical incidents. “The design features incorporated in these new radios will help our firefighters work more safely and efficiently.” Spark will provide in-country support including service management and a customer support desk as part of a five-year contract, giving New Zealand Fire Service operational and cost certainty throughout the life of the contract. The contract also provides access provisions for related government agencies wanting to take advantage of the new radio technology, which works across multiple bands and frequencies and is therefore accessible for organisations that may be using different technologies/radios. www.isn.co.nz
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Keeping your team safe Accidents and emergencies can occur at any time and a quick response may mean the difference between life and death – as Bob McGuiness’ workmates found out first hand
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Awesome app: the free Red Cross First Aid and Emergency app’s extensive and easy-touse preloaded content provides instant access to important first and emergency information – anytime, anywhere
t seemed like a normal day at work, but things quickly took a dramatic turn for the Fletcher team when their workmate Bob suddenly collapsed. Bob was preparing to lift some steel when he fell to the ground, suffering a heart attack. Luckily, his colleagues knew how to respond. An AED was retrieved from the shed nearby, the ambulance was called and several workers provided first aid and treatment. Bob’s workmates gave CPR and attached the AED, and a shock was given. Thanks to their quick actions, Bob lived to tell the tale. However, the outcome could have been much worse if the team hadn’t remembered their first aid training. “When they do the training you hope they’re never going to need it but everyone did what they needed to do – textbook stuff. Each person did their job,” project manager Ian Howard explains. As Bob’s case shows, emergencies can happen anywhere – including in the workplace. It’s important to make sure your workplace establishes a robust first aid programme before it’s needed, so that when an emergency does occur everyone knows how to react. At a minimum, the Health and Safety Act requires you to have suitably trained first aiders and a first aid kit in your workplace. However, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration to ensure your workplace is as prepared as possible. Worksafe NZ recommends choosing an NZQA-accredited first aid provider to ensure that your employees get all the skills they need. Only accredited training
providers can award credits for Unit Standards and issue a first aid certificate, so double-check your intended provider is actually registered with NZQA for this purpose. Be cautious of any short cuts. While quick courses might get your employees back on the job sooner, NZQA requires all accredited courses to meet a minimum content standard and course length. Shortened courses often do not meet these requirement, and low-cost, short courses could
courses tailored to your workplace and industry-specific requirements. Get in touch with your local Red Cross training coordinator to find a course that perfectly meets your needs. New Zealand Red Cross offers a wide variety of courses, designed to suit a range of workplaces and hazards. Whether it’s essential first aid – the kind of skills that helped save Bob McGuiness’ life – or more advanced training that caters for lone workers or those in higher
“New Zealand Red Cross offers a wide variety of courses, designed to suit a range of workplaces and hazards” even place your employees at risk. A half- or one-day workplace first aid course probably won’t meet your health and safety needs in industries such as construction, engineering, forestry and manufacturing – your team will need more advanced learning to meet the appropriate workplace assessments and health and safety obligations. It might take a few more hours, but this is a small and valuable investment in the knowledge, skill and confidence of your staff to be able to react to an emergency and to save a life. Selecting the right course is vitally important. Basic-level courses may be suitable for office workers, but do not teach the right skills for construction workers. New Zealand Red Cross provides
risk industries, Red Cross has something to help your business. Red Cross training is flexible, practical and hands-on, helping your employees retain their knowledge and remember their skills when they’re needed. Red Cross is the global leader in first aid training and an NZQA Category One training provider with courses right across New Zealand. You can be assured your team is receiving the best training available.
Three steps to a safer workplace
Red Cross says there are three key elements to consider when you are establishing the first aid needs of your workplace:
Conduct a risk assessment
Conducting a risk assessment in www.isn.co.nz
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Top teachers: choosing an NZQA-accredited first aid provider is essential to ensure employees get all the first aid skills they need
your workplace will help you and your employees identify any health and safety issues or hazards and determine how these will impact on your first aid requirements. This will help you make an informed decision about your workplace requirements: the number of first aid kits required, where they should be located, how many first aiders you need and if they need advanced training, and the health and safety information all staff should know. Find information to help you complete this at business.govt.nz/worksafe/.
Have an appropriate number of first aiders in your team, and make sure they’re suitably trained
The size of your team, the hazards in your workplace and the distance from medical assistance will determine how many trained first aiders your workplace will need. Make sure there is adequate cover for planned and unplanned absences. This is particularly important when shift work is a part of normal operations. Make sure you choose the right course, or combination of courses. First aiders in a high-
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er-risk workplace will likely need more advanced training than their counterparts in a low-risk office. Remember that first aid certificates need to be revalidated every two years.
“The Red Cross First Aid and Emergency app ensures you always have essential lifesaving information in your pocket”
Provide well-stocked and accessible first aid kits
Having a good quality first aid kit appropriate for your workplace is absolutely essential, and in larger places more than one kit will be required. Not all first aid kits are created equal. Seek advice on what is needed in your kit to cater to your work space, rather than purchasing lower-quality kits. Call Red Cross or check with the Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation (MBIE) to find out what items your workplace first aid kit needs. Make sure items in your first aid kits are replaced regularly (some items will have expiry dates), so they’re available and usable when needed. Staff must also know where to find first aid kits on site. These should be clearly identified with the universally recognisable white cross on a green background, and include emergency contact details and contact details of your trained
first aiders. Employees should be informed of first aid procedures during their induction process and provided with a refresher every two years.
Next step - consider an AED for your workplace
Bob McGuiness’ life was saved by the quick actions of his colleagues – and a workplace AED. A New Zealander dies from heart disease every 90 minutes. This equals 16 deaths a day. Many of these deaths are premature and preventable, especially if you have an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) nearby. AEDs dramatically increase the chances of survival for people who have heart-related emergencies. A defibrillator gives an electronic shock to the heart when in cardiac arrest, helping reset the heart’s
rhythm. For every minute defibrillation is delayed, the chances of survival drops by around 10 per cent. Consider getting an AED for your workplace – larger workplaces may need more than one. AEDS can be installed in outdoor cabinets, ensuring the device is temperature-controlled and secure no matter what type of site you’re based on. Most AEDs are very easy-touse, with no buttons to push and easy-to-follow, step-by-step voice instructions. First-time users can successfully and confidently operate these fully automatic defibrillators simply by following the voice prompts. Red Cross has a range of fully automatic AEDs for workplaces and community groups, and offers comprehensive training and
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support to help you install, maintain and use your AED. Find out more at redcross.org.nz/first-aid/ automated-external-defibrillators-aeds/.
Workplace first aid – in your pocket
Nothing can replace practical first aid training for cementing the knowledge and skills you and your employees need in an emergency. However, having that essential information on your phone and ready when you need it most could make all the difference in responding quickly to first aid emergencies and disasters. The Red Cross First Aid and Emergency app ensures you always have essential lifesaving information in your pocket. The free app features simple, easy advice on everyday first aid scenarios, tips on how to prepare for natural disasters and step-by-step instructions on what to do during an emergency. It can also help your employees get their first aid certificate. The app’s extensive and easy-touse preloaded content means you have instant access to important first aid and emergency information, even without cell phone reception or an internet connection – you are ready, anytime and anywhere. You can also use it to refresh your first aid skills and get prepared ahead of time. New Zealand Red Cross is also the only first aid provider to offer mobile first aid training courses. Using the unique and feature-rich App, you or your team can prepare for Red Cross Workplace First Aid certificate in your time on your phone. Find out more about our new and unique mobile learning Workplace First Aid course at redcross.org.nz/first-aid/. You can download the app for free from Apple’s App Store for iOS devices or from the Google Play Store for Android devices. Red Cross also offers a free Hazard app, which alerts users to disaster and emergency warnings.
Not just for the workplace – keep your family safe
Learning first aid is not only about health and safety compliance. It is also about making our communities healthy and safe. A trained first aider doesn’t just keep their first aid knowledge to use in the workplace. They have the skills to help in any emergency – at the weekend rugby game,
Practice makes perfect: employees should be informed of first aid procedures during their induction process and provided with a refresher every two years
Magic machines: a workplace Automated External Defibrillator (AED) dramatically increases the chances of survival for people who have heart-related emergencies
at their child’s school recital, at the scene of a car crash or while they’re on holiday. By implementing a strong first aid programme in your workplace, you’re not only helping make your team safer – you’re helping make your community, and New Zealand, a safer place.
What should I have in my first aid kit?
Here is a list of the minimum recommended contents for first aid kits for workplaces with no special risk: • a manual giving gener-
al guidance on first aid • individually wrapped moist wipes or saline solution • 20 individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings (assorted sizes), appropriate to the type of work (dressings may be of a detectable type for food handlers) • two sterile eye pads • two individually wrapped triangular bandages (sterile) • clasps or safety pins to tie bandages • two stretch bandages • six medium-sized, individually wrapped unmedicated wound dressings – approx-
imately 12cm x 12 cm • two large sterile individually wrapped unmedicated wound dressings – approximately 18cm x 18cm • two pairs of disposable gloves • one resuscitation mask. Source: First Aid for Workplaces – a Good Practice Guide by the Department of Labour, 2009
Red Cross has a range of workplace and personal first aid kits and accessories available from its online shop – to find out more, visit redcross.org.nz/first-aid/buy-firstaid-products/ www.isn.co.nz
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Mobile fall protection units that move with your work PBI is proud to offer an innovative approach to fall protection to meet the needs of tomorrow’s business. As new legislation has changed the way we think about workplace health & safety, PBI have a range of flexible mobile solutions that provide safe anchorage wherever your business takes you. Our overhead Cube and Trailer units provide height safety compliance when working on civil equipment, shipping & containers, machinery and loading bays.
Talk to our Mobile Height Safety Specialists to discuss a solution that meets your workplace needs.
0800 357 003
PBI Height Safety Limited 10 Holt Place, Harewood, Christchurch 8545, New Zealand Free Phone:
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ACCESS
Time to rethink a perennial problem? There may have been great advancements in technologies and products to assist workers inside confined spaces, but Gordon Anderson claims one serious safety issue that has gone unresolved for many years still remains
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nyone involved with confined spaces knows that approximately 60 per cent of confined space fatalities are due to the sentry (and sometimes others too) rushing in to attempt a rescue when a workmate collapses inside the space. The consequences of this can mean that no one has raised an emergency call and the site management are blissfully unaware of the situation unfolding. By the time a passer-by notices that the sentry is not on duty and does launch a proper rescue, then is often too late. Due to the passage of time, what should have been a rescue has become a body recovery. This issue has resisted all of the attempts at hazard controls that have been applied because most of these controls are administrative in nature, and, unlike the workers inside the space, there are
no engineering controls applied to the sentry outside the space to ensure that he stays on station during an emergency. Way back in the 70s confined space entry training courses emphasised that an individual must never rush in to attempt a lone rescue, but 40 years later that exact problem is still recurring and causing fatalities. It is difficult to find one central database of accurate information regarding confined space fatalities worldwide, but some estimates are around 1,000 to 1,500 per year within a wide range of industries. Another interesting factor is that 30 per cent of confined space fatalities occur within spaces that have been ventilated, tested and permitted as “safe”, so the presence of a sentry is vital to safety and is mandated within international codes of practice and regulations for confined space work.
The last 40 years has seen the updating and revision of standards, laws, codes of practice, confined space entry rules, safety signage, permits to work, training courses and qualifications. But none of these have solved the problem - and there’s no
old response that has been with us since we were hunter-gatherers and were in turn hunted by larger animals. One of the most primitive parts of the sentry’s brain, the amygdala, hits the “panic button” and takes over. It is “fight” or “flight” time
“Approximately 60 per cent of confined space fatalities are due to the sentry rushing in to attempt a rescue when a workmate collapses inside the space” reason to believe that repeating more of the same will make any difference. It’s therefore time to think about this differently and take a different approach by assessing and understanding the human behaviour factors involved.
Crucial questions
The key questions are why do educated, trained people sometimes ignore the rules, regulations, training, signage, and permit to work conditions and “decide” to rush in – needlessly putting themselves and others at risk? And secondly what can be done about it? The answer to the first question is “they don’t” – i.e. there is no “conscious decision” involved! Current neuroscience says that about 85 per cent of our daily actions are subconscious and habitual – not deliberate actions. It follows then that if a person isn’t making a decision to enter, then maybe it’s difficult to make a decision not to enter. When a sentry notices that a colleague has passed out in a confined space, this traumatic situation triggers a 100,000-year-
Man with a mission: electronic monitoring of sentry presence would help cut the cost of confined space fatalities Gordon Anderson maintains
and his nervous system floods his body with adrenalin. It is quite common for people to say in an emergency that they can’t “think straight” and they are right. Neuroscientists say the amygdala “hijacks” the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain that thinks things through and makes “conscious decisions”. In the case of a confined space incident, the sentry’s amygdala makes the “decision” to go in and www.isn.co.nz
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pull his buddy out – “fight” instead of “flight”. The rush of hormones surging through his brain makes it impossible for his steady-thinking prefrontal cortex to assess the risk. All of the classroom training, procedures, signage, permit conditions, rules and regulations count for nothing. That is why training and administrative controls haven’t solved the problem and the 60 per cent issue will keep recurring unless we try something different. It’s time that we accepted and understood this human frailty and therefore turned our attention to the second question “what can we do about it”? If we accept that we cannot always stop the sentry from rushing in, then surely the next best thing is to know that the sentry has left his post? If the site management could be informed immediately when this happened, then at least they could launch a prompt and properly resourced rescue with a better chance of successfully rescuing those people inside the space. This would surely be more dependable than hoping the sentry would remember his training. Local company Net Gain Enterprises Ltd. may have solved the problem with its patent-pending design of an innovative system designed to electronically monitor the presence of the sentry and create an alarm in his absence. The alarm can be both local and/ or over a wide area and works by utilising a variety of everyday electronic equipment, including Wi-Fi, computer screens, cell phones and walkie-talkies. The system consists of a combination and reconfiguration of existing technologies that are readily available, and Net Gain’s searches have revealed no other product like it is currently available. The company is currently seeking a development partner to help take the product to market, so hopefully this new approach and application of an engineering control will soon start saving the lives of workers in confined spaces – both in New Zealand and overseas. Gordon Anderson is a director of Net Gain Ltd and a practising safety professional, registered safety auditor and engineer with wide experience in the manufacturing, marine, insurance, public safety, and service sectors 34
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Fatal mistakes of confined space entries
Extensive international research has identified five fatal mistakes when it comes to confined space entry: • the prime causal factor for 92 per cent of confined space fatalities in the last 15 years in Western Australia was ‘inadequate confined space entry training’ • over 90 per cent of confined space fatalities had ‘inadequate supervisor knowledge and supervision’ as the secondary cause of the fatality • contractors who work within confined spaces make up 60 per cent of fatalities within confined space statistics • only 15 per cent of organisations that suffered a confined space fatality had ‘appropriate’ confined space procedures in place • internationally, 60 per cent of confined space fatalities have occurred when personnel have tried to rescue injured personnel from within confined spaces. It’s staggering to note that the prime causal factor for 92 per cent of confined space fatalities in the last 15 years in Western Australia was ‘inadequate confined space entry training’. Research found that: • confined space training reduces the risk of confined space fatalities as employees learn the identification, hazards, risks and safety control measures applicable to confined spaces
• ensuring that an organisation has confined space procedures in place that suit the work environment will reduce the risk of a confined space incident • providing regular confined space supervisory training for supervisors of confined space entries reduces the likelihood of an accident • contractors are at a far higher risk of incident than employees with a regular workplace, presumably because they are less familiar with the site-specific confined space hazards present • there is a substantial risk of rescuer fatalities if confined space workers are not adequately trained in the potential hazards that could be present during an incident and the safe rescue procedures to follow to rescue injured personnel. The risk of a confined space incident can be substantially reduced by investing in relevant confined space training for confined space workers and supervisors and ensuring that they have adequate confined space safety procedures in place. Providing staff with confined space entry training backed by trained confined space supervisors and confined space safety procedures increases the knowledge of confined space safety within an organisation and improves the confidence and competence of staff in conducting confined space work safely.
One million man-hours without a lost time injury The Aggreko AusPac team has achieved the significant milestone of one million man-hours without a lost time injury (LTI), marking a two-year period without an LTI
A
ggreko is committed to sustaining a Zero Harm environment, and ensuring that safety is top of mind at all times, with the company motto Safety for Life. The million man-hour record reflects Aggreko’s’ commitment to creating a safe workplace by setting high safety standards and ensuring operational excellence. “Aggreko does not compromise on safety; as a world class global power supplier, safety governs every aspect of how we do business. “I am very proud of our impressive achievement and extend my congratulations to the AusPac team for making this incredible milestone possible” says George Whyte, Managing Director Aggreko AusPac. This impressive achievement became a reality as a result of Aggreko’s ongoing commitment to safety and through its stringent safety strategies, systems and processes, both internally and externally. Tasked with overseeing QHSE for the AusPac region, David Richards is dedicated to implementing and promoting safety across all Aggreko work sites, offices and depots. More than 330 safety observations and interventions have been conducted over the last eight months, and 54 management safety walks completed by the AusPac
Executive Leadership Team. “A strong focus on identifying and controlling hazards, reducing exposure to health and safety risks, and supporting the general health and well-being of our team members has ensured we realised this milestone. “It’s a team objective and one we wouldn’t have achieved, if not for the hard work and effort from all of our employees. It is the care that they display for one another that ensures everyone gets home without harm each and every day,” Mr Richards says. The safety performance is a direct reflection of Aggreko’s ambition to be a role model in safety; setting high standards and continually improving safety performance, particularly with our customers and the communities in which we operate. Zero incidents aims to completely eliminate all events that result in an injury, property damage, or lost workday case. Safety must be an integral component of an overall business plan for any company. Safety controls must be designed into every aspect of a job, thereby promoting awareness and continuous improvement in the program. Zero incidents should be a company vision rather than a target or performance goal.
Aggreko plc is the leading global provider of modular, mobile power and adjacent product solutions. Aggreko employs more than 7,300 people operating from 204 locations. In 2015 we served customers in about 100 countries. Aggreko plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AGK.L) and is headquartered in Scotland. Aggreko is comprised of two business units: Rental Solutions and Power Solutions. In the Rental Solutions business, we operate in developed markets and develop solutions for, and hire our equipment to, customers who then operate it for themselves, although we retain responsibility for servicing and maintaining it. We operate across all sectors in the market, but are heavily involved in oil and gas, petrochemical and refining, mining and events. In the Power Solutions business, we operate in emerging markets as a power producer. We install and operate modular, mobile power plants for both utility and industrial customers and we charge both for providing the generating capacity, and for the electricity we produce. In our Industrial business, as in Rental Solutions, we are market leaders in oil and gas, petrochemical and refining and mining, whilst our utility business helps countries solve their power shortages. View Aggreko’s global environmental, health and safety policy statement here. For more information: www.aggreko.com.au
Silent Generators
Heating and Drying
Hybrid Solutions
Gas Generators
Fuel Management
Ancillaries
Power and Temperature Control specialists in the Construction industry. T: 0800 950 950 www.isn.co.nz
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HEALTH
Four-dimensional approach essential for all-round wellness Life today is such a non-stop scramble that too many of us end the day feeling overwhelmed and exhausted – but there are solutions says Jo van der Walle
W
e let our well-being fall through the cracks simply keeping our heads above water and it’s taking a huge toll. Sleep deprivation is an epidemic, physical activity is at an all-time low, and the number of health issues tied to obesity, stress, depression and chronic disease has skyrocketed. Arianna Huffington highlights the consequences of our modern lifestyles in her recent book Thrive. As she points out: • UK prescriptions for antidepressants have risen 495 per cent since 1991 • Germany lost 55 million workdays to psychological illness in 2011, up over 80 per cent in 15 years • the ex-Minister of Labour in Germany estimated that burnout is costing the country up to 10 billion euros per year • a Harvard Medical School study found that an astounding 96 per cent of leaders said they felt burned out • according to the American Psychological Association, the millennial generation is at the top of the chart for stress levels – ahead of baby boomers and matures. These figures only reinforce that the way we are living and working is not working. Arianna’s message is that the long-term health of a company’s bottom line and the health of its employees are very much aligned, and when we treat them as separate we pay a heavy price – both personally and collectively. For businesses, the costs are exacted in dollars and cents, talent retention and diminished productivity. The approach we should be taking instead is “what is good for our employees is also good for business.” It’s time we discovered a better way of working and followed the lead of progressive organisations
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worldwide such as Nike, Google, Kraft, Apple, Facebook and Coca Cola. They invest heavily in the health of their staff – and create real benefits for the business.
A whole-person approach
Over the last few years we have seen a shift in the concept of employee wellness as organisations move towards a more holistic definition of wellness that encompasses an employee’s total well-being. People are more than physical; they are four dimensional – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. In order to increase an individual’s capacity to work to their full capability we need to educate them on how to recharge each of these four dimensions. In the past, health and well-being programmes generally only supported physical parameters such as exercise, nutrition and stress management. While these programmes are still in place and highly valuable when it comes to making employees feel healthy and appreciated, employers are beginning to supplement these with social/emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. In fact, a recent survey by Virgin Pulse found that 78 per cent of employers in the US have expanded beyond physical wellness programmes to overall well-being. It may be easy to list all the initiatives your organisation has in place to support physical well-being – such as fruit bowls, subsidised gym memberships, sessions with a nutritionist and health checks – but what initiatives are in place to support the other three dimensions?
Mental wellness
Let’s start with the mental dimension. By neglecting to educate individuals on how to enhance their mental capacity we limit their ability to generate fresh ideas, produce more work and be more
positive in the workplace. By educating individuals on how to break negative thought patterns they take positive action and feel calmer and more in control. Rise and Shine Coaching is currently delivering this four-dimensional programme to Russell McVeagh Law Firm, following which the Mental Agility workshop participants commented: “I have felt more switched on and motivated at work” and “I have been more positive at work and about work.” Imagine the result of having more positive, proactive individuals operating from a growth mindset and influencing others in the organisation? It is important to ask yourself what your workplace is currently doing to support mental well-being.
Social/emotional wellness
Often clients question what social/emotional means? Could this equate to people challenges they experience in the workplace? Charging the emotional dimension happens more organically and is in two parts. Social – how to develop strong relationships with those around us. And emotional – how to develop a strong relationship and effectively manage ourselves. These days many of us work independently but the problem with this is we live in an interdependent world so it benefits us and the workplace to focus on this dimension. It’s often when we learn the art of giving and taking
that we develop strong interpersonal relationships. When we are emotionally secure we work better in a team environment without feeling threatened by others. Our workshops educate individuals on how to manage their feelings throughout the day so they stop reacting to stimuli and feel more in control of themselves. What is your workplace currently doing to support emotional well-being?
Spiritual wellness
We don’t mean spiritual in the religious sense – in fact we refer to this as the ‘Internal dimension’ and focus on the individual deep within, including their values, interests, strengths and knowledge of who they really are. When an individual is spiritually/ internally well they jump out of bed every day, excited about life, they are fulfilled, content and working towards their personal and professional goals. What is your workplace currently doing to support spiritual/Internal well-being? Why recommend a programme incorporating all four dimensions? The answer is simple. Picture Johnny. He is physically healthy, runs for 30 minutes, at least five times a week, does weights and yoga, but he is very stressed out, lonely and unhappy. Would you consider Johnny to be healthy? Not totally, he may be physically fit, but he doesn’t have complete well-being for several
HEALTH
key reasons: • he is regularly feeling stressed out (lack of mental well-being), which affects him physiologically by causing sleepless nights and leads to addictions such as caffeine, smoking and drinking (lack of physical well-being) • he feels resentment toward his employer for working long hours – affecting his mental, emotional and spiritual well-being • it affects his relationships at home and at work by making him irritable and withdrawn— “Go away! Leave me alone!” (lack of emotional well-being) • it affects his spiritual dimension by making him not enjoy activities that previously inspired him, preventing him from thinking clearly about where he is going and the goals he is working towards. In short, imbalance in one area affects the entire system. Hence the importance of the holistic approach.
Intrinsically motivating
To get real benefits from any programme, you need to focus on developing intrinsic motivation. Don’t get me wrong – pedometer challenges are great but people are smart and it doesn’t take them long to realise that by tapping their foot a few times when sitting at their desk their step intake increases and their team is more likely to win the challenge and get the prize. This is extrinsic motivation, where people are motivated by the prize and happy to bend the rules to win. We have had discussions with clients who strongly believe that wellness is the responsibility of the individual and we absolutely agree – but what if they have never considered the four dimensions of
wellness before? Do they limit their ability to work to their full capacity because they don’t know what they don’t know? Do they know what activities or behaviours they can adopt to help them be their best selves at work and at home? A good place to start is to introduce a programme that educates individuals on the four dimensions of wellness, how each dimension is intertwined and how by recharging each dimension they will feel happier, more energised, productive and motivated. In the process, why not let them set their own goals? It may be 5,000 steps to start with then progress to 10,000. Allow them to start from their current lifestyle and build new healthy habits from there.
vidual, keeping it top of mind for employees. Creating a culture of wellness must be an authentic move and not a means of showing senior
“Holistic wellness is a proven allround approach for better workplace health and safety and a more positive, productive culture” Top-down support
It’s important this approach is kept alive throughout the organisation. Staff at all levels should participate to ensure everyone speaks the same language. Taking lunch breaks or finishing work on time to go to the gym are actions that should be celebrated and encouraged. After all, the organisation benefits when individuals are able to come up with creative ideas, are less reactive, less stressed and more positive to be around. Best results are achieved when an organisation aligns its values to the four dimensions of an indi-
leadership are ‘doing the right thing’. If it’s a box-ticking exercise you are going to get limited results. You can have the best well-being programme in the world, but if the culture isn’t changed you’re not going to be able to change employees’ habits on an ongoing basis. Why not get the whole organisation involved, from the top down?
It’s a long-term priority
The bread and butter is that the programme is focused on changing habits, not making small changes that fade. For example, at Rise and Shine Coaching our programme is in four parts. Each two-hour workshop focuses on a different dimension and is scheduled independently, giving individuals time to embed new habits in each area before returning to the next workshop. It’s all about seeking long-term sustainable results. Each participant is assigned an accountability partner to support and encourage them throughout the programme. Participants are encouraged to share their successes and challenges on the assigned Facebook page. We recommend if you want to
change the culture do it properly and take on Stephen Covey’s attitude – ‘Fast is Slow and Slow is Fast’. The proof is clearly evident. According to the results of a recent study by Virgin Pulse and Workforce Magazine, 64 per cent of employees said they feel appreciated when their employers offer a wellness programme. Some 58 per cent felt more engaged and loyal, 75 per cent felt more energetic and productive and 88 per cent felt more positive about their work culture. Investing in workplace well-being programmes also helps organisations get a leg up on recruitment, enhances their workplace reputation and supports company success. Do you want your employees to bring their best selves to work each day? If so, it’s time to ignite behavioural change and transport your organisation to a new stratosphere. Holistic wellness is a proven all-round approach for better workplace health and safety and a more positive, productive culture.
Director Jo van der Walle is a certified life coach, motivational speaker and founder of Rise & Shine, www.riseandshinecoaching. co.nz, a dedicated holistic wellness company that offers self-leadership and executive energy management workshops to corporates New Zealand wide www.isn.co.nz
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AWARDS
Worthy winner: an early safety scare helped Jeff Robertson create several award-winning safety initiatives, including an innovative digital fingerprint site access system
Award-winning access system ensures a safe and secure site A “safety first” approach to site access has helped an Auckland project manager scoop the Site Safe Safety Excellence award at this year’s New Zealand Institute of Building and GIB Awards
J
eff Robertson’s focus on safety began early in his career, when a one-metre fall from a shoddily-built scaffold landed him in hospital for four days. Fresh out of an architecture degree and working as a hammerhand at the time, he says the experience taught him the real-life impact of the “she’ll be right” approach to onsite safety. “It has given me a better appreciation of what it’s like to be off work injured,” Robertson believes. “It was pretty clear from that experience – and it wasn’t a big exposure but it had quite a lasting effect physically – that it’s not just the big hazards that you need to be wary of. Just a combination of young staff and a bit of naivety can easily lead to those accidents.” The project manager at Auckland-based firm Aspec Con-
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struction clearly learned from the experience, winning the 2016 Site Safe-sponsored award in recognition of his safety initiatives on the King’s School Centennial Project. The ambitious project involves the demolition of a three-storey building and the construction of a four-storey, state-of-the-art classroom and music block as part of the Auckland school’s approaching centenary in 2022. “This is the first time I’ve been nominated for any award so I was pretty stoked to hear that I’d got through to the final round and that we were successful,” he says. Working closely with the school, Robertson came up with several innovative ways of ensuring the day-to-day safety of both pupils and workers. “Keeping the kids safe was the number one challenge because we
were in the middle of campus and adjoining four existing buildings, so we were very much right in front of them.” One initiative was a digital fingerprint site access system which ensured automated tracking of workers on-site. Aspec partnered with local company Scan One to tailor this technology for the site. The access system, which consisted of two scanners and turnstiles inside a portable shipping container, worked as a “security portal” for all those accessing the site. Workers’ thumb or fingerprints were recorded as part of the site safety induction process – no induction meant no access to the site. During induction, the inductee’s details, police clearance (a school requirement) and safety quali-
fications were all input into the system. Robertson says educating workers to use the system was “surprisingly quick” and within a week the site had full compliance, giving the project team confidence that there was no one “noseying” around the site that wasn’t meant to be there. “It sets the table for an effective health and safety plan, and helps emphasise to the client, public and workers that we, Aspec, don’t just accept the status quo,” he notes. “We are striving for excellence in all we do in safety from the moment we step onto the job site, through to the quality of work performed. We’re here to raise the bar.” The access system has already paid for itself, not only because the company hasn’t had to hire a fulltime staff member to man
INNOVATIONS
Site study: the construction site in the middle of the busy school
Double time: workers scan in and out of site using a security portal
the gate but also the system’s portability means it has the added advantage of being reusable on future projects. In addition, access is faster than signing in with a pen and specific safety messages can be displayed on the sign-in screen. The system allows management to produce daily reports of who is on-site, and a similar report can be accessed remotely in the event of an evacuation. It will also block access to anyone who fails the police clearance process, and can even keep track of workers’ safety qualifications. The possibilities are endless, Robertson maintains. “You can add Site Safe passport details and when it expires you can get an alert to remind people to get a refresher course,” he explains. “The exciting thing is that this is just the start.” The site set-up shows a dedication to health and safety and allows the site managers to take one major concern – site security – off their list. “In the world of health and safety, we have to take this as a well-earned victory,” Robertson says. “We can now build on this to push other safety goals, such as raising the standard of training.” Other on-site safety initiatives included installing viewing windows
around the site hoardings to allow pupils to view progress on-site, giving them a safe way to view the construction activity while keeping them away from the busy vehicle gate. Site Safe Chief Executive Alison Molloy says it was great to see such a worthy recipient take out the inaugural award for Safety Excellence. “Jeff is to be congratulated for his innovative approach to streamlining health and safety in construction,” she says. “The portal is a fantastic health and safety initiative, making life easier and safer for both workers and managers.” Judging panel convenor Simon Barnes adds that the standard of award entries this year was once again impressive. “The eventual winners were justly outstanding and worthy of award recognition.” The NZIOB and GIB Awards for Excellence are in their 23rd year and celebrate the professional excellence of individuals in the building and construction process, rather than the project or completed structure. Site Safe is a not-for-profit, membership-based organisation that promotes, inspires and supports a culture of health and safety in New Zealand construction.
Redesigned fall protection full body harness provides total compliance A redesigned and upgraded 3M Protecta PRO Full-Body Harness range has been released by Capital Safety. The harnesses are suitable for everyday use by professionals in a broad range of industry applications; from general construction through to tower work. With eight models to choose from, the collection also includes a specialist scaffolders’ harness with an integral Fall Protection for Tools belt to provide a complete drop prevention system. The scaffolders model allows the wearer to safely climb and work from scaffolds and ladders and minimises the risk of falling object incidents that result in personal injury, equipment damage, and tool loss. “Full-body harnesses are genuine working tools that allow you to get on with your job without worrying about safety,” says Oscar Ratalino, research and development manager for Capital Safety in Australia & New Zealand. “That’s why our all new redesigned and upgraded PRO FullBody Harness Range offers a choice of harnesses for every possible working environment.” The design incorporates lighter hardware and improved adjustability for a better fit every time, ensuring absolute confidence, comfort and safety for the user.
www.isn.co.nz
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