Brendon Lawrence from H & G Pepper Construction with Gerard Luby discussing health and safety on a worksite. Photo / Supplied
Brendon Lawrence from H & G Pepper Construction with Gerard Luby discussing health and safety on a worksite. Photo / Supplied
A Health and Safety Consultant is bringing his skills and expertise to Whanganui to help local businesses succeed.
Gerard Luby has 10 years of experience under his belt working with a range of industries "trying to build their health and safety culture and awareness".
Having previously worked as a health and safety manager for KAH NZ Ltd at Mt Ruapehu, Luby now resides in Whanganui freelancing out to create and train management and staff with his business Premier Safety.
He said there is a global shortage of health and safety professionals and it is getting harder to find these people, so that is where freelancing comes in.
"A lot of people have the willingness to get health and safety compliant but may not have an understanding of how to apply the necessary systems."
He said if you look at the New Zealand figures in terms of workplace fatalities to other nations of similar size you will realise that there is an ongoing need to promote and support the development of good health and safety practice.
"We've come a long way but still have some distance to go, so how do you support that, how do you develop that? We'll do that by supporting business and offering advice that is site-specific and applicable to their needs."
His training includes IOSH Managing Safely, which is a three-day training course for managers and supervisors that is based on the principles of understanding workplace safety management.
He is very conscious of someone in management taking on the role of health and safety who may not be equipped with the tools to succeed and may not feel supported in doing so.
"You may have a person who is struggling with the concepts of safety management. We need to support them and be conscious that if a person feels overwhelmed then there's a stress element attached to that which is part of health, safety in terms of wellbeing."
Luby also uses virtual reality as a tool to train companies in health and safety.
"For your more hazardous scenarios, VR is a solution for companies that have difficulty in managing on-site hazards."
He said his business will engage with a company to develop a training programme which will support employees in the practical and theoretical aspects to a task without the exposure to the risk.
Gerard Luby is hoping to support Whanganui businesses with their health and safety through his business Premier Safety Ltd. Photo / Bevan Conley
He said they offer to train staff or train someone within the company on how to train their own staff with VR.
"What they're doing is giving people the reality and actually litigating against the risk factor and actually keeping your people safe."
He said the proven retention rate from using VR in companies is 45-55 per cent greater than without.
"Not everyone has an aptitude for classroom learning, so VR kind of encompasses everybody, it interacts, you're involved, you're learning as you go and your retention is greater so there's no fear of making mistakes."
He is also a certified Specific Purpose Manual Handling instructor and certified Train the Trainer.
Luby is partnered with Brightside Consultations and Safety Freelance, an online platform with high-end health and safety professionals which supports businesses all over the world.
