KEY POINTS:
Those responsible for a safe workplace need more money and better leadership, according to a report released yesterday.
The contents of the National Profile of Occupational Health and Safety in New Zealand report are "deeply worrying", said Professor Neil Pearce, chairman of the National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee, which commissioned the report.
Demand for occupational health and safety services is up but funding is down.
"Many of the government agencies responsible are now seriously under-resourced to meet the challenges of growing and more diverse workplaces and workforces," the report concluded.
It called for a single lead agency, and said there needed to be more OSH specialists and they needed to have better skills.
The report took a close look at the system and the factors that influenced it. There had been substantial growth in the New Zealand economy, increasing the number of workplaces and workers and changing the workplace environment, Prof Pearce said.
The comments of those such as OSH practitioners, representatives of government agencies, employer organisations, employee representative groups, safety organisations and other industry groups were insightful and deeply worrying, he said.
"They clearly demonstrate that the agencies currently responsible for OSH often appear to operate in 'silos', with a resulting inability to work effectively together in the crucial areas of research, data systems, policy development and prevention programmes.
"As a result, employers and workplaces are often unsure how and where to get advice to prevent diseases and injuries in the workplace."
The report recommended that a decline in the qualified OSH workforce in government agencies be reversed.
"It's likely that New Zealand already has all the elements of an effective OSH system - we just need work together to develop, evaluate and implement them effectively," Prof Pearce said.
Other recommendations included:
* Ensuring that the objectives of memoranda of understanding between government agencies were achieved.
* Ensuring evidence-based and effective intervention and engagement programmes.
* Aligning the audit standards of ACC programmes with the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992.
* Minimum standards for OSH consultants.
* Improving data quality and the surveillance and control of risks of exposure to occupational diseases in New Zealand.
* Providing advice and technical help for New Zealand workplaces.
* Ensuring government leadership for New Zealand's OSH system.
- NZPA
