Workplace safety plea

The need for good workplace health and safety practices is more acute than ever given the labour shortage, says Associate Labour Minister Ruth Dyson.

To mark International Workers' Memorial Day, Ms Dyson said employers who neglected health and safety practices did so at their peril - and that of their staff.

"Right round the country business is booming. Unemployment is at rock-bottom, company profits are high and labour is in demand. It's this current demand on our workforce that makes the need for good workplace health and safety practices more acute than ever," she said.

At a time when the country needed high-performing workers, employers could not afford to have people killed, injured or made sick at work.

Ms Dyson said businesses with positive approaches to health and safety reported fewer accidents and injuries and higher productivity.

The estimated cost of deaths, injuries and illnesses caused by occupational disease and injury in New Zealand was between $4.3 billion and $8.7 billion.

- NZPA