Tracy, what do you mean by a monthly health monitoring program?

Rapid antigen testing kits only tell you if you have an active infection today that is producing the covid spike protein.
Rapid antigen testing kits can not tell you if you are likely to have an active infection tomorrow or next month.

If you have a covid infection that is not at a high viral load, the rapid antigen testing is less likely to pick it up. The high sensitivity % quoted is usually measuring people at a high viral load and therefore people who are most infectious (and the people you are least likely to want to come in the building).

From my research, from a workplace point of view, it seems the rapid antigen testing is most useful when someone is symptomatic in the workplace, and it could be asthma, allergies, a cold, etc or covid. The test will help to rule out covid and provide reassurance. (acknowledging that sick people need to stay home of course). Or as MattD2 says, you are working with a close contact, household contact or workplace contact situation and people on the periphery of the public health advice want/need extra testing,

My thinking is that if you are doing surveillance testing then every 3-4 days is most likely to pick up an infection, providing the person has a high enough viral load (with or without symptoms) and depending on all the other covid mitigation controls you have in place and the risks of transmission in your workplace. Once you start this system it is for the long haul, and the costs add up.

A pos rapid antigen test then needs PCR testing through the public health system.

I am guessing more guidance will follow from WorkSafe/MBIE/MoH etc. The info is being updated daily at the moment.

https://www.mbie.govt.nz/about/news/lessons-learnt-from-rapid-antigen-testing-trial/
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/assessment-and-testing-covid-19/rapid-antigen-testing
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-88498-9

These folks may be able to help, Catherine has posted up here a few days ago.
https://www.shopcare.org.nz/covid19resources

I am sure I have walked past the MIQ hotels in Christchurch? Presumably positive cases crop up from time to time there, and there are people that work with those positive cases in Christchurch.

I would just like to shout out to all the people working so hard behind the scenes, that need to be wearing the PPE and doing all the good stuff in their workplace every single day to mitigate the risks. It is not just the people on the front line either, but all the people supporting them and their management and bosses that are making the hard decisions. It is because of their their hard work every single day that has allowed others to feel safe.

I have been working through fatigue management for our shiftworkers, and decided to design our own training, as nothing available seemed to gel for our situation.
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Have you found Dr Drew Dawson in your searching about fatigue? This is a good video to see how fatigue works in a H&S and management context, around impairment and fitness for work and it might help you decide how the training you find fits into your business's needs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrowMZGbcvY

Most of my focus has been on fatigue management while working shift, so may not be at all applicable for your people. Feel free to pm though if you would like to see some of these resources.

HI Jo,
We have issues too, and I did a bit of work last year trying to figure out how to deal with birds at our food manufacturing site.
We came to the conclusion that it all depends on what food sources are around in your area vs what is available on your site as the problem comes and goes depending on the season and what our neighbouring industrial sites and farms are doing.
If there is easy access to food that is where the birds will be, so we are trying to make it more difficult for birds to access the food source as the first priority, with some success so far this season.
A lot of the information available seems to be generated by the people who make the various products, so I found it hard to get some solid information on what works and what doesn't and it is so site and bird specific.
Good luck, I will be interested to find out if you come up with a good solution!

Hi Alex, could you pm me your email addie? I have something I can send through for you to compare.

For example, if you are considering audiometry to be medical *treatment*, and the worker has the right to opt out, then that means that the employer is obliged to carry out a risk assessment to see if that worker is able to carry out work where the noise hazard is given that required monitoring can't be achieved.
At what point does opting out of the monitoring then follow that the worker opts out of the work?

Is this medical treatment?

Why would it not be mandatory, if it is a reasonable instruction/policy/procedure given the specific circumstances of the job, the worker and the business? Why wouldn't the health monitoring fit into section 45 of the HSWA 2015?

Does the employee that wants to opt out of monitoring also want/need to opt out of the part of their job that involves the hazard and controls you are monitoring? How else would you be able to know if your controls are effective? What are their reasons for wanting to opt out, is there a way to address their concerns?
Something else to check, is the information you are collecting directly connected to your business? https://www.privacy.org.nz/privacy-act-2020/privacy-principles/1/

Sorry, no help whatsoever, but when I saw your post title I started singing along to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH6MstVxehQ :)

I have worked with companies that run a "nine hour break" as part of their contracts/policy. So from the time until you leave work, even if it is 4am, then you are entitled to a nine hour break before you are back at work again.
This allows a decent block of sleep before being back at work. Finishing early at the end of the next shift doesn't allow for lost sleep.
This then means the workplace has to organise their workflow assuming that people may not be in first thing if they have had late calls so it takes a bit of work to allow it happen smoothly.

I read this within two weeks of starting in H&S... I think it is required reading for anyone in the H&S space. Completely mindblowing.

https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/tragedy-at-pike-river-mine-how-and-why-29-men-died/21452333

I have just been looking at fatigue as a critical risk for our people who cover a 24 hour rotating roster, and one of the previous posts on this forum suggested this as a good place to start thinking https://www.zeroharm.org.nz/resources/risk/fatigue-risk-management/
(the original thread https://forum.safeguard.co.nz/discussion/comment/1375)

If you are looking at training your people in fatigue management (given that managing fatigue is a dual responsibility) then this may be useful (new and hot off the presses) https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/research/sleep-and-mental-health-uk, download for free.

This is all much broader than your specific question about a flowchart, but may be interesting anyway.

I have just been looking at fatigue as a critical risk for our people who cover a 24 hour rotating roster, and one of the previous posts on this forum suggested this as a good place to start thinking https://www.zeroharm.org.nz/resources/risk/fatigue-risk-management/
(the original thread https://forum.safeguard.co.nz/discussion/comment/1375)

This is a general answer to your specific question though.

Check out this link https://worksafe.govt.nz/managing-health-and-safety/health-and-safety-representatives/hsr-training/
"Completing initial training means achieving New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) unit standard 29315: Describe the role and functions of the Health and Safety Representative in a New Zealand workplace.

Only training that leads to the achievement of NZQA unit standard 29315 meets the requirements for initial training. Only training providers with approval from NZQA can teach this unit standard.

When you are choosing a training opportunity, consult with your PCBU about the timing, location and cost of training.

Once you have achieved this unit standard, you will be considered trained and able to issue a PIN or order unsafe work to cease.

Your PCBU must comply with legal requirements relating to your rights to request and attend health and safety training."

How do other countries manage impairment testing? Just wondering about roadside policing. Alcohol testing is straightforward at the roadside, could THC testing be able to be done so that the driving limits are policed?