Comments

  • Women applying for more senior roles

    You have contributed 7 of 22 non-admin comments in this thread about "What factors inhibit women in H&S roles from applying for more senior positions".
    Thanks for your contribution.
  • Women applying for more senior roles

    Seriously, have you just gone "yeah but" about men
    on a thread that is pertaining to "What factors inhibit women in H&S roles from applying for more senior positions? What is your experience?"

    Peter, I think the two women that have contributed deserve to be applauded, and the rest of this perhaps speaks for itself.
    Maybe reiterate that women are invited to submit privately on the survey monkey :)
  • Women applying for more senior roles
    Flowcharts and graphs are my thing, here is one ;)
    Attachment
    Screenshot 2023-06-15 113200 (99K)
  • Worker Engagement Partipation and Representation

    Hi Robyn,
    Have you been able to find any paperwork, rules and regs to back up that (some?) primary processors aren't considered high risk under the legislation even though they fit into the food manufacturing classification? Or is it a self-classification thing depending on the actual risks/history at the workplace?
    Schedule 2 (https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2016/0016/latest/DLM6567803.html) is very broad brush, and I thought the ANZSIC code matches up with ACC levy classifications too? Eg. https://www.shapeyouracc.co.nz/home/levy-risk-groups/

    I would be interested in knowing more too :)
  • Emergency plans
    My post makes a whole lot less sense now that the original post has been substantially edited.
  • Emergency plans
    Wouldn't the point be to look at your business and think through how you would deal?

    Some ideas from someone who has been living this in the last week... I have no idea if you are rural or city, so take what is useful and leave the rest :) I can only speak to our situation.

    Biggest challenges here have been - lack of coms, lack of usable roads/bridges, lack of power, damage to houses and sections and infrastructure. My town has been super lucky that we have had drinking water and sewerage right through. There is the first day challenge, then as the days go by the challenges change.

    Maybe rename your 'evacuation procedure' to a 'communication procedure' and see if that changes anything.

    1. how do you know everyone is safe when you have no mobile coverage? When celltowers fail, normal coms don't work. It can be days.
    2. how do you deal if there is a slip, road closure, flood waters, bridges out between where your people travel? What do they have in the vehicle that will help them and others near them? eg. First aid kit + training. Does every driver know not to drive in flood waters, and how high is too high etc.
    3. What are the alternate routes and safe spots? What routes would people need to go to get home. Where can people go if they can't go home?
    4. What back up power do you have at the shed? Charged battery packs, maybe alternate simcards. Spare petrol/diesel. Where is your nearest generator if you needed one, and spare cables? Camping stove with gas for hot drinks. Is the shed the best place to keep this (eg. evacuation point) or could you rustle it up from someone's house.
    5. Can you take a laptop somewhere else so you can still deal with admin elsewhere. Is it backed up? Do other people know the passwords to deal with stuff if needed? (a data evacuation procedure lol). Everyone needs to know about whether their pay will go through.
    6. Maybe a facebook messenger group or similar to get messages to and from staff quickly. Send test alerts to make sure all staff can access it. Best coms last week on spark were texts and facebook messenger. Other stuff simply didn't load for days. lets not talk about vodafone.
    7. back up water. if you are rural, you may lose water pumping and clean water. Stash of muesli bars and biscuits that are checked.

    That is all I can think of for now, please excuse the braindump.
  • Wellbeing surveys: what value? what pitfalls?
    What are you hoping to achieve in a survey?
    What definition of wellbeing are you using eg. 'soft and fluffy, yoga and fruitboxes', or 'the opposite of harm'.

    A way to fix the worker so they are more 'resilient' so that they will take more %$#& and do more work.
    A way to work out why people only last a year before finding another business to work for (as soon as they are fully trained and functional in the role)
    A way to see if the jobs match the training match the time available match the management/leadership style match the output required
    A way to see if the business concentrates on 'ambulance at the bottom of the cliff' rather than make the work work better
    A way to unpack toxicity and the 'ism's so that people like being at work and like the people they work with
    A way to make the workplace mentally safe and healthy as well as physically safe and healthy
  • ACC First Week Compo
    Yeah, but understanding how the doctor and ACC have coded the claim is crucial, if this is information you don't have, then perhaps a good way forward will be finding this out. If it is coded as a separate claim by the doctor, then it is a separate claim, no matter what you think.

    What you accept or don't accept is less relevant to the situation than what the doctor has said to ACC.
  • ACC First Week Compo
    ACC make their decisions based on what the doctor says. So do you know for sure if the doctor has told ACC the latest absence is from the original injury?

    What does the new medical cert say? The original ACC claim no, or a new, different one? Was it a work-related incident, so you can get information on the claim, or a non work-related incident so it is harder to get information on the claim (can you see the claim in MyACC?).
  • ESG/Sustainability - what part does H&S play?
    Three pillars of sustainability: people, planet and profits.
    H&S looks after the people side of things, pretty hard to have a sustainable business if you hurt, kill or maim your people while they are at work. Seems fairly straightforward to me.
  • Forklift Training for Filipino Workers
    We use https://www.drivingtests.co.nz/course/forklift/ for training.
    They have language support for the online course, and we have found them to be very responsive to a phonecall.
    We sign-off the practical test internally, means we can test against our vehicles, spaces and loads.
    Really, really happy with the level of understanding that is coming from the course, finding it better than the tick and flick courses.
  • Audit Priming?
    But wouldn't the H&S team be conducting regular internal audits to make sure the business is meeting expectations? Who is monitoring that the basics like fire drills are getting done now? Some H&S activities impact on other things, eg. insurance, building WOF.
    So, walkarounds at the different sites, sometimes to call in and have a chat and a looksee and check the first aid boxes etc (low drama visit), and then sometimes with a checklist that would cover off the external audit expectations.
    Maybe 'business as usual' should cover internal checks so that an external check is not hugely problematic.
  • Why have a sign in sheet?
    Earlier this year I pointed out to a kitchen joinery place that the faded signs requesting all visitors comply with the HSE 1992 might be a little out of date. They just looked at me. At least they are not manufacturing engineered stone benchtops, which is a small mercy.
  • Location or Role based Safety Committees?
    Yep, our traffic management is different site to site. Same fundamental hazard, but extra location-specific risk loading and some different (additional) controls needed.
    The people who work at each site will pretty quickly tell you how their site is different ;) Then I guess it is a case of setting the minimum requirements, which may be above what they think :)
  • Why have a sign in sheet?
    Sounds like you are also talking about a cultural issue? In my industry it is the workplace norm and culture to sign in when coming on someone else's site to work, but for the construction sites you are talking about it sounds like it is not the culture.
    This means we can attach greater significance and role to the sign-ins, that you may not be able to.
  • Why have a sign in sheet?
    So much of this is site-specific, and not all sites are loaded with technology options. Sometimes pen and paper works and is quick and easy.

    Having a sign in sheet at reception helps to make sure there is human contact when coming on site, good to check on purpose and who else on site might need to know.
    I use the sign in sheets to crosscheck that contractors have been inducted, it helps to capture the apprentice or newbie who comes in with someone else.
    Contractors can be in roof spaces or in random places that the fire warden might not check.
    It is also useful when checking invoices later, a record of when people are on site.
  • September safety topics
    I was just looking for manual handling posters and found this!

    https://library.safework.sa.gov.au/

    Had to share my excitement, it gathers in resources from all over, and includes posters and videos and everything :heart:
  • September safety topics
    Hi,
    I do something similar...
    Matariki + shortest day/longest night = fatigue, shiftwork, managing sleep
    Mental Health Week https://mentalhealth.org.nz/our-campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week
    Earthquake Shake Out https://getready.govt.nz/en/involved/shakeout/
    Dec - summer = heatstroke, sunburn, skin cancer, slip slop slap, hydration

    https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/healthy-living/h/health-promotion-calendar/

    Often there is a bit of a splash in the media at the right time, which is always nice.