Workplace deaths, injuries cost NZ billions

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Workplace deaths and injuries cost the country billions of dollars a year and the emotional toll on workers, their families and friends is immeasurable, says Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson.

Speaking on International Workers' Memorial Day today, Ms Wilkinson said it was a time for workers and employers to reflect on the importance of health and safety at work.

Last year 77 people died at work in New Zealand. Twenty nine of them were killed in the Pike River mine explosions in November.

"No one should be injured, let alone die from doing their job and it's appropriate that today we reflect on those who have suffered because of their work," Ms Wilkinson said.

"Safety should be part of the culture at work - it is good for business, productivity and staff morale. We all must do our part to ensure health and safety initiatives are at the forefront of business planning," she added.

The Department of Labour recently launched the National Action Agenda, which aimed to reduce the work toll in five key sectors which have consistently high levels of workplace deaths and injures - construction, forestry, agriculture, manufacturing and fishing.

Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) national secretary Andrew Little said there was room for improvement in workplace safety in the mining sector and other hazardous industries.

"We owe it to the 29 men who died in the Pike River mine and the rest of the 7270 people that work in the mining sector to improve safety," Mr Little said.

"We know enough about the Pike River disaster to know that health and safety regulation and oversight by the authorities is a real issue that the Royal Commission will have to explore in detail," he said.

He said the Government and businesses should act, with input from workers, to improve workplace safety before the commission's report, which could take years to complete, was released.

The best way for the Government to improve health and safety in the mining sector was to reinstate "check inspectors" scrapped in 1992, he said.

Check inspectors were experienced miners who checked mines were functioning safely.

"The EPMU has campaigned on behalf of miners for the reinstatement of check inspectors since 1992, repeating its call for them in the aftermath of workplace deaths in the Black Reef and Roa mines on the West Coast in 2006."

A review by the previous Government was "on track" to review the case for check inspectors but Ms Wilkinson chose not to reintroduce them, he said.

EPMU, along with members of the Greymouth community and other unions will today observe International Workers' Memorial Day, by unveiling a monument in the historic West Coast town of Blackball, marking the Pike River Mine disaster.

Police revealed today that a video image taken from inside the mine was likely to that of a fully-clothed body.

- NZPA