Health and safety reform: missed opportunity to make workplaces safer
Tuesday 1 April 2025, 4:13AM
By New Zealand Institute of Safety Management
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Health and safety professionals say the Government has squandered an opportunity to make serious inroads into New Zealand’s appalling workplace health and safety record.
"The reform plan announced today is underwhelming and unambitious," said Mike Cosman, New Zealand Institute of Safety Management Chair. "The Government has missed a golden opportunity to improve our poor health and safety performance."
50-70 people a year die in workplace accidents (double the rate of Australia and four times that of the UK). Another 700-1,000 die from workplace diseases and many thousands of others suffer significant harm.
"We want to see all workers come home to their families healthy and safe; we can’t see these reforms improving these dismal numbers.
"The reforms are focused instead on costs to businesses of prevention and not the much greater costs of harm. This seems to be looking through the wrong end of the telescope to us because the cost of our poor health and safety record is north of $4.9 billion per year to say nothing of the impact on workers and their families.
"We’re deeply worried about proposals to exempt small businesses from some health and safety rules. Small businesses are less safe than big ones so this change is backwards. Why should workers face more risks if they work for smaller companies?
"The sad thing is that the Minister had a blueprint that she’s ignored. All the players in our health and safety system have been clear what’s needed but the Minister appears not to have listened."
In October last year, key players from across the health and safety system including employers, experts, unions, academics, and representatives of our highest risk sectors wrote to the Minister and her Cabinet colleagues setting out what we know will fix our health and safety system. These recommendations highlighted the need for a much more strategic and coordinated approach.
"Apart from some improvements to guidance development by WorkSafe, Minister van Velden has ignored advice from employers, workers and experts.
"If the Prime Minister wants New Zealand be the best place in the world to live in by 2035then he should make turning around our shameful workplace injury and illness record a top priority. And if he wants to grow the economy, we need a healthy workforce to do it. An injured worker puts strain on businesses, ACC and the health system."