scholarly journals Occupational health and safety cases in the New Zealand District Court

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
Christopher Peace ◽  
Pippi Priestley-King
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
District Court ◽  
Short Article ◽  
Safety Cases ◽  
High Level ◽  
Level Analysis

Occupational health and safety (OHS) practitioners need to understand prosecutions that have been before the District Court if they are to provide informed guidance about compliance with the New Zealand (NZ) Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) to “persons having control of a business or undertaking” (PCBUs). However, if they cannot access academic databases, they may need to rely on individual reports of a few cases but may not have the time or resources to develop their own database. Those who are studying for a tertiary level qualification may also lack the time to find and catalogue more than a few cases. This short article reports on the first stage of the development and analysis of a dataset of prosecutions under NZ OHS legislation. We describe our data sources and a high-level analysis of the dataset and issues to be resolved before proceeding with further data analysis. This work also forms part of research into “grey literature” and its use in practice by OHS practitioners and professionals. We conclude by showing the disparity between prosecutions and deaths due to occupational disease and trauma (leading to an area for further research) and loop back to one of the origins for this research: the meaning of a safe system of work.

scholarly journals Voice and resistance: Coalminers’ struggles to represent their health and safety interests in Australia and New Zealand 1871–1925

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Walters ◽  
Michael Quinlan
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Mine Safety ◽  
Regulatory Oversight ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

The activism of coalmining unions in Australia, the UK, the USA and elsewhere securing improvements in safety including better legislation in the 19th and 20th centuries, has been widely researched and acknowledged. However, a relatively neglected aspect of this history was a campaign to secure worker inspectors (check-inspectors). These began in coalmining a century before similar measures were introduced for workers more generally as part of overhauling occupational health and safety laws in the 1970s/1980s. We document this struggle for mine safety in Australia and New Zealand, and the activities of check-inspectors in the period to 1925. Notwithstanding strong opposition from coal-owners and conservative governments, check-inspectors played an important role in safeguarding coalminers and improving the regulatory oversight of coalmines. Check-inspectors not only gave coalminers a ‘voice’ in OHS, but they also provided an exemplar of the value and legitimacy of worker’s ‘knowledge activism’. This system remains. Furthermore, the struggle is relevant to understanding contemporary debates about collective worker involvement in occupational health and safety. JEL Codes: J28, J51, J81

Decriminalisation of sex work in the post-truth era? Strategic storytelling in neo-abolitionist accounts of the New Zealand model

2020 ◽  
pp. 174889582091889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynzi Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Sex Work Policy ◽  
Knowledge Claims

In the context of on-going debates regarding sex work laws, in most jurisdictions forms of criminalisation continue to dominate. Despite decades of sex workers calling for the decriminalisation of sex work and collectively organising against repressive laws, decriminalisation remains uncommon. New Zealand was the first full country to decriminalise sex work with the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act in 2003, which aimed to improve occupational health and safety. Several empirical studies have documented positive impacts of this framework. However, despite this, neo-abolitionists persistently describe the New Zealand model as a failed approach. This article examines neo-abolitionist knowledge claims regarding the New Zealand model and in doing so unpacks the strategic stories told about this approach, considering the implications for sex work policy making.

scholarly journals Managing workplace bullying in New Zealand: Perspectives from occupational health and safety practitioners

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 598-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bevan Catley ◽  
Tim Bentley ◽  
Darryl Forsyth ◽  
Helena Cooper-Thomas ◽  
Dianne Gardner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Workplace Bullying ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Preventative Measures ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Free Environment

AbstractResearch into workplace bullying has only recently begun to investigate preventative measures. This paper continues that emphasis by examining the management of bullying in a sample of New Zealand organisations. In this study, the survey results from 252 occupational health and safety practitioners were analysed to examine how bullying is understood and managed, along with factors that predict preventative efforts. Results indicate that bullying was perceived to impact significantly on organisations, although the organisations had limited preventative measures in place. The findings confirm the importance of leadership and the establishment of an effective bully-free environment as preventative measures.

scholarly journals Occupational Health and Safety in New Zealand: Problems and Solutions

1970 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Duignan
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Shop Floor ◽  
University Departments ◽  
Cost Cutting ◽  
Economic Climate ◽  
Problems And Solutions ◽  
Regulatory Bodies

An economic climate which promotes cost cutting, lack of resources for regulation) agencies, enforcement bodies which are reticent to enforce, legislation which is unco-ordinated and not communicated to those who need it, information which is available in university departments but not on the shop floor, and no effective sanctions in terms of penalties and increased levies against negligent employers all threaten the health and safety of New Zealand workers. These problems are outlined and improvements such as more resources for regulatory bodies, a more positive policing role for enforcement agencies, integration of legislation and administration, better information flow, effective sanctions against employers and particularly more worker involvement in occupational health and safety are proposed.

EFFECTIVE SAFETY CASE DEVELOPMENT

2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 805
Author(s):  
A.J. Mathers ◽  
S. Savva
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Reference Source ◽  
Qualitative Risk Assessment ◽  
Safety Case ◽  
Safety Cases ◽  
Case Development

Esso Australia Pty Ltd, in Victoria, Australia has recently been involved in the preparation of over 20 safety cases to meet both offshore (Victoria and Western Australia) [Petroleum {Submerged Lands} Act] and onshore [Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act] regulatory requirements.This paper focusses on the development of the onshore safety cases for both Longford and Long Island Point plants to meet the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety (Major Hazard Facilities) Regulations 2000. Both plants have been granted a five-year unconditional licence to operate.The objectives of the safety case development were to ensure that Esso:addressed major hazard facilities regulatory requirements; maximised benefit from the process, and to maximise benefit from existing work; was consistent with site approach to risk assessment/ safety culture; involved appropriate workforce from all areas— operations, maintenance and technical support; enhanced the effective knowledge and understanding of the workforce; and developed a communication tool to enable ease of understanding by site personnel.Esso’s approach of using qualitative risk assessment techniques (familiar to many site personnel) enabled the process to use tools that provided ease of involvement for the non-technical or safety specialists. This paper will explain this approach in greater detail, demonstrating how this successfully met the stringent requirements of the regulations whilst providing Hazard Register documentation readily understood by the key customer— our site workforce.The hazard register clearly identifies the relevant hazards and their controls, as well as highlighting the linkages to the safety management system and documented performance standards. A comprehensive training program provides all personnel working at site with an overview of the safety case, and the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to use the safety case and hazard register to its maximum advantage. The safety case resource booklet (similar to our offshore approach) is an integral part of the training program, and provides an ongoing reference source for trainees. It continues to receive recognition by both regulators and industry.

scholarly journals Health and Safety of Aircrew: A Critique of the National and International Debates

1970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Boyd ◽  
Felicity Lamm
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Airline Industry ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Aviation Safety ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Legislative Reforms ◽  
Regulatory Reforms

There are a number of current debates about the enforcement of occupational health and safety of aircrew and about their levels of injury and illness. The impetuses for these debates are the regulatory reforms of occupational health and safety taking place in both New Zealand and overseas. This paper aims to provide an informed response to this discourse on the health and safety of aircrew by drawing on a number of sources. The paper presents a critique of the legislation governing the health and safety of aircrew and of the industry's response to possible legislative reforms. The paper also analyses civil aviation safety practices both nationally and internationally, and will argue that civil aviation authorities are not necessarily the best agencies to enforce and promote occupational health and safety in the airline industry.

scholarly journals “Occupational Health and Safety” Corporate Liability and the Regulation of Officers: New Zealand Reform

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Stella Kasoulides Paulson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Safety Regulation ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Corporate Liability

<p>This paper examines the concept of corporate liability in the context of occupational health and safety in New Zealand. In particular it looks at the new duty of officers proposed in the Health and Safety Reform Bill 2014. New Zealand’s occupational health and safety framework has experienced a regulatory breakdown, stemming from its incomplete implementation of the Robens Model for health and safety regulation. That breakdown involves many flaws and gaps, especially as far as corporate liability is concerned, while the modern world of work has created new challenges to health and safety regulation. This setting demands a new regulatory tool to create effective corporate liability and increase the compliance of companies’. This article examines the new world of work and the inherent clash between OHS regulation and the corporate world to reveal two main conclusions; the major barrier to company compliance is a lack of effective inducement; and there is a desperate need to create health and safety leaders within companies, in order to create a positive health and safety culture. These two conclusions promote the main proposition of this paper, that the proposed duty of officers will be instrumental in improving the state of workplace health and safety. This paper examines the duty, as drafted, to emphasise its potential and to highlight certain flaws which may limit that potential.</p>

scholarly journals “Occupational Health and Safety” Corporate Liability and the Regulation of Officers: New Zealand Reform

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Stella Kasoulides Paulson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Safety Regulation ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Corporate Liability

<p>This paper examines the concept of corporate liability in the context of occupational health and safety in New Zealand. In particular it looks at the new duty of officers proposed in the Health and Safety Reform Bill 2014. New Zealand’s occupational health and safety framework has experienced a regulatory breakdown, stemming from its incomplete implementation of the Robens Model for health and safety regulation. That breakdown involves many flaws and gaps, especially as far as corporate liability is concerned, while the modern world of work has created new challenges to health and safety regulation. This setting demands a new regulatory tool to create effective corporate liability and increase the compliance of companies’. This article examines the new world of work and the inherent clash between OHS regulation and the corporate world to reveal two main conclusions; the major barrier to company compliance is a lack of effective inducement; and there is a desperate need to create health and safety leaders within companies, in order to create a positive health and safety culture. These two conclusions promote the main proposition of this paper, that the proposed duty of officers will be instrumental in improving the state of workplace health and safety. This paper examines the duty, as drafted, to emphasise its potential and to highlight certain flaws which may limit that potential.</p>

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