"But the government has been making changes to steer the country in the right direction."
He attributed the result at Katikati - the only one of EastPack's sites to achieve a zero level to date - to a strong team effort led by site manager Bruce Youngman and his No2 Marie Reti-Flower.
"Everyone on site has a common goal and works together to achieve that goal," said Mr Youngman. "And each person is responsible not only for themselves and their own actions, but also for their colleagues and anyone else visiting the site."
Each day starts with a comprehensive daily pre-shift team briefing, which includes a "safety moment" of the week where all staff focus on a key safety-related message.
The safety team leaders were also sticklers for making sure the workplace was always neat and tidy, he said.
"A clean, orderly site is the basis for a safe site, and is the secret to reducing and eliminating accidents and incidents."
Mr Worthington-Currie said staff also sought out every opportunity for improvement and there was a well-developed company system to ensure each submission was assessed.