The Health & Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) has now been in place for 12 months. Over the last year, while we have observed many positive changes to the way health and safety is approached, across the transport industry in general we still have a long way to go to ensure our workplaces are safer.

Having a look at the latest statistics released from Worksafe’s 2015/16 Annual Report, there were nine people killed in the transport, postal and warehousing sector, placing this sector the second to highest industry for fatalities. Worksafe’s statistics don’t include road fatalities, so add to the nine deaths an additional 11 truck occupants on average killed on the road every year. (Reference: Ministry of Transport, Truck 2016)

(Worksafe Annual Report 2015/16)

Clearly this is still far too many New Zealanders dying needlessly. When transport is compared to the forestry industry for example, forestry has a reputation as being dangerous but this industry has made significant change to improve the safety for its workers, and in comparison the statistics clearly show the transport industry is being left behind.

While many businesses have systems in place to manage their Health & Safety, we are still surprised at the number of companies we come across that have a folder gathering dust which hasn’t been opened since 1992 (when the previous Act was passed), and the number of business owners that think this is enough to cover themselves if something goes wrong in their workplace.

These business owners and managers are missing the point that Health & Safety is not just about having things in place to ‘butt cover’ but rather it is to identify and manage the risks in their workplaces so the risks can be eliminated or minimised as much as is reasonably possible, so workers can all go home safe and in one piece at the end of the day to their families and loved ones.

Contact Safe Business Solutions (SBS) on 0508 424723 or email info@safebusiness.co.nz to find out more about Health & Safety solutions for your workplace.