Progress on workplace health & safety welcome

Business NZ has welcomed the progress report published today on the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy to 2015.



Business NZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly, who is joint chairman of the Workplace Health and Safety Council, says the strategy is a solid initiative by key stakeholders to get better workplace health and safety outcomes for New Zealanders.



“Having the private sector involved along with the union movement, under the joint chairmanship of Business NZ and the CTU, is an important part of the strategy.



“It helps the Government to prioritise actions on health and safety and lends weight to those areas that need change.



“New Zealand business is particularly keen to see competition introduced into the accident compensation system, since this allows for incentives for good safety performance.



“As well, more needs to be done to fix the problem of confusion among smaller businesses about what their health and safety obligations and opportunities are.



“There is more work to be done in this important area, and we welcome the snapshot of progress in this report.”