As a safe place to work, New Zealand compares poorly with other developed countries like Australia, UK and Canada. Investigations into accidents in the workplace have been dropping as WorkSafe struggles to deal with complex cases. The question is: how do we improve this depressing situation?
Worksafe HQ in Wellington Central Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
In the aftermath of the Pike River mine explosion that killed 29 men in 2010, serious failings in New Zealand’s health and safety record were revealed.
WorkSafe, an agency dedicated to safety was created in 2013 but nine years on our record is still shameful.
“We are overrepresented in terms of health and safety statistics throughout the world. It’s depressing,” says Chapman Trip partner Garth Gallaway, who has worked in health and safety law since 1994.
Recently released figures about the construction industry are an example, with two deaths a month on average and a serious injury every day.
Gallaway and RNZ investigative journalist Anusha Bradley talk to The Detail about the role of WorkSafe, the criticism of the way it operates, the worrying drop in the number of investigations and calls for more money.
WorkSafe has had plenty of headlines highlighting its successes in recent weeks: its case against a Bay of Plenty company ordered to pay $600,000 for spreading fertiliser on a farm which led to a fatal crash; the $350,000 fine on an inflatable slide company behind a string of accident and injuries; and its investigations into Gloriavale.
It has also been in the news recently after a review by public sector consultants SageBush found it was not clear about its role and its strategy. It continues to be criticised for its part as a regulator in the leadup to the Whakaari/White Island eruption and its subsequent handling of investigations and charges laid against companies. And its tough talk aimed at the construction industry was met with a backlash from industry leaders and unions.
Gallaway says WorkSafe has a tough job as the watchdog of 557,000 businesses but the health and safety statistics are getting worse in some areas and that is not a good sign.
“That tells me that all is obviously not well in health and safety in New Zealand and if you go back to the Pike River Royal Commission it says that part of having an effective health and safety system is having an effective regulator and I don’t think that WorkSafe is particularly effective at the moment.”
Amid the calls for more funding for the agency, Gallaway points out that WorkSafe chief executive Phil Parkes has taken the rare step of going public with the plea.
“If resourcing is an issue that doesn’t help because you’re trying to put out fires all the time and that means that you can’t deal with the real issue of what’s causing them.”
He says the number of investigations has steadily dropped since 2016 and notes that WorkSafe has stopped publishing the data on its website.
“They must investigate to understand what’s going on and I think one of the disappointing aspects of WorkSafe’s performance is that certainly up until recently – and I haven’t checked the figures in the immediate past – the investigation numbers were trending down very significantly.
“That meant that WorkSafe was not getting a lot of information that it could’ve got to inform it as to what was happening out there.”
Bradley says she started looking into WorkSafe while investigating ACC. She explains how the Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood ordered an independent review of the agency after repeated public calls for more funding and a warning from the agency itself that it would have to focus less on adventure activities regulation in favour of other high risk sectors.
“WorkSafe itself admits that its remit is incredibly broad. It has to cover every industry around the whole country so it does have a big job,” says Bradley.
“It’s not just looking at things like accidents and injuries it has also taken on in the last few years what it calls mentally healthy work, so it’s really looking at things like bullying, harassment and workplace stress so it has added another layer to its remit…and there is some concern that maybe its remit is too broad.”
Bradley says the Whakaari/White Island eruption shows that New Zealand has a long way to go in terms of workplace safety. She does not believe it is one particular agency’s fault but “there is a systemic issue that needs to be dissected and analysed so we can make improvements, so we don’t have another catastrophic event like Pike River or Whakaari”.
WorkSafe CEO Phil Parkes. Photo: WorkSafe
In a written response to criticism that the number of investigations have dropped significantly, WorkSafe chief executive Phil Parkes says that data is under review and will be published as soon as possible.
He says investigations are “time and resource-intensive, highly specialised interventions which are usually reserved for the most serious cases such as fatalities and serious injuries”.
They are demanding and time consuming and not always the best intervention in every case, he says.
Parkes explains that the number of investigations have fluctuated due to factors such as Covid-19, the Whakaari investigation which drained resources and an increase in the scale and complexity of the cases. WorkSafe is also targeting resources to cases that are more likely to lead to prosecution.
WorkSafe has 269 people authorised under the Health and Safety at Work to do enforcement, 174 of whom are actively doing inspections. The rest are managers and staff working on other harm prevention and engagement work.
The Detail also called the WorkSafe Minister Michael Wood’s office to ask if there would be more money for WorkSafe. He did not reply to that but in a written statement says WorkSafe has had an increase in funding of nearly $32 million over the last five years.
“This additional funding will also assist WorkSafe to work with MBIE to ensure its regulatory tools are up to date and an appropriate standard,” he says.
Progress was being made on updating the regulatory framework with new regulations for mining and quarrying recently announced, and more regulations to be drafted in coming months.
Wood also says that the SageBush report on WorkSafe found no major failure in how it performs its role and functions.
“The report sets out some key findings which will help WorkSafe as it continues to mature as a regulator. I commissioned the report because I believe in continuous improvement, and want to ensure that we have all of the information necessary to continue lifting performance, and reducing harm in workplaces across New Zealand.
“WorkSafe is formulating an action plan to implement the report’s recommendations, and I am confident they have taken on the findings in the report.”
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