Remember that "silence implies consent", and "we get exactly the government we deserve, according to our degree of active participation".
We should all be commenting on every consultation and aiming not just to complain about what is currently NOT working, but also to offer constructive suggestions about what would work better.
"The worst they can do is say no, but they can't say yes if you don't ask them." Sometimes we need to keep repeating the message until the time is right and the information gets through.
I strongly recommend that people consider working with a collaborative group to review and comment. I have done this ever since ISO9001:2000 was introduced and the committee of NZOQ decided we would work collaboratively to leverage our combined knowledge, skills and experience to teach ourselves, rather than relying on consultants or courses. It was very effective, and we found the group discussions particularly helpful for gaining an overall better understanding of the framework and its implications.
When the HSNO Act came into law, I approached a colleague from that NZOQ committee and suggested we could do the same with HSNO. From there, our HSNO Working Group was formed, with 4 people at its core. We worked through the initial wave of classifications and controls by working together as a group to review and comment. We sent our collected comments to NZCIC (now Responsible Care NZ), which sent them on to ERMA (now EPA). One of our members was invited to sit on the Technical Liaison Committee, which effectively gave us a seat at the table and a recognised presence for all matters in that domain.
In our case, along with our core of 4 very committed participants, having a well-formed charter from the outset allowed us to align our efforts with agreements about the purpose and scope of our work, as well as how we would work together. Later, as the HSNO framework 'matured', we were able to re-visit, review and update our charter to remain current with our purpose.
When the H&S Reform Bill came along and the MBIE Discussion Document came out, I approached the group to ask if anyone wanted to review the document in similar fashion. One member had retired, but the other two were keen, so we met one evening per week at my dining table to work through the chapters. We discussed and clarified the content, the questions, and our feedback, which allowed us to make a submission on behalf of the group as well as our individual feedback. It was equally important that we all engaged much more deeply with the content and implications, and each person in the group added insights and nuances that the others would have missed if we had tried to do this in isolation.
The remaining members of the group continue to connect and collaborate any time there are significant changes or calls for feedback.
It was very pleasing a few years ago to see WorkSafe and MBIE running World Café style workshops to engage, catalyze discussions and gather a much more comprehensive range of feedback.