The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 came into force on the 4th April 2016. Part of its aim is to help reduce New Zealand’s workplace death toll by 25% by 2020. Workplace related death in New Zealand is currently twice as high as Australia and three times higher than in the UK and as a nation, we also lose an estimated $4.3 to $8.7 billion each year because of work-related injury and disease.
The Act makes everyone within an organisation responsible for Health and Safety; from the ‘Officers’ who have to practice due diligence, keeping up to date with the risks of their organisation’s operations, to contractors and volunteers.
This raises the question: Are you and your team ready for the new Act?
Your answer to this may be yes, in which case, great! However a survey by Worksafe NZ showed that there is a difference between what management think about their Health and Safety culture compared to what the workers think. The right intentions may be there, but this often hasn’t led to successfully embedding a strong Health and Safety culture.
The law is not prescriptive, it sets guidelines for organisations to identify the risks based on the individual business and to put in place what is ‘reasonably practical’ to prevent or minimise these risks. Each business has different risks and therefore different processes in place to mitigate these risks.
Ask yourself:
o Do you and your workers have the right attitude, skills and knowledge on Health and Safety?
o Are your employees ready to proactively identify and manage risks and not just record the hazards?
o What learning frameworks do you have in place to help manage this change process?
o Do your employees practically apply what they have learned in terms of Health and Safety?
Where the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 isn’t a one size fits all legislation, neither is the learning experience. Innovative learning and performance solutions can help bridge the gap between legislative theory and reality.
For example, immersing the learner in scenario based learning puts the theory into the context of your organisation and the individual’s specific role. This means the learning is more easily transferable to the job which is key to successfully engaging workers in the new legislation and creating a safe working environment for all.
eLearning is also a cost-effective approach which ensures consistency of content, can reach a wide audience, can be delivered in a quick timeframe and is tailor made for your organisation and its people. From scenario based learning to reinforcement tools, there are a variety of options available.
People are an organisation’s biggest asset.
For guidance on adapting your learning solutions for the new legislation contact us 09 520 5820 or enquiries@optimism.co.nz
