Whanganui District Council chief executive David Langford says the organisation's health and safety manager role has now been filled. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui District Council chief executive David Langford says the organisation's health and safety manager role has now been filled. Photo / Bevan Conley
A “warts-an-all” review has revealed that Whanganui District Council staff exposed to violence and aggression accept those risks as part of their job.
Construction Health and Safety New Zealand Trust (CHASNZ) was commissioned by the council to undertake a health, safety and wellbeing (HSW) review.
There were 62 incident reportsat the organisation from January 2022 to the first week of December 2022 - a low level according to the CHASNZ’s final report.
One reason for that was “normalisation”.
“Workers exposed to regular and frequent levels of violence and aggression from members of the public have indicated an acceptance of the risk as part of their positions,” the report said.
Council chief executive David Langford said council staff got “a huge amount of abuse” over the phone, via email and social media, at the front counter and on the streets.
“Our staff are incredibly dedicated to the community and they come to work because they want to do a good job,” he said.
“They take it personally and it does hurt. When you‘re faced with it day in and day out, it can be quite a psychological battle of attrition not to get worn down.
“From a management and leadership point of view, we want to take a zero-tolerance approach who abuse our staff. It’s just not acceptable and it’s not necessary.”
Council leaders should be encouraged to front up to the public on issues they hold responsibility for, as opposed to the perception that the customer services team was being used “as a convenient screen”, the report said.
The executive leadership team was encouraged to spend time working alongside the customer services team to understand the challenges they faced in the role to determine what resources and skills were required to maintain a safe and healthy work environment.
Safety issues at the the city’s port and the wastewater treatment plant were also highlighted in the report.
At the plant, it was recommended that staff were retrained, with increased supervision of employees to improve risk awareness and control.
Risk management approaches and processes in the facility were not at a good standard and permits “were observed to be not adequately completed”.
Langford said high priorities were dealing with “STKY risks - ‘stuff that kills you’”.
“Our wastewater treatment plants have got big, industrial equipment that will quite easily pull an arm off if you get it trapped in a piece of machinery.
“We have confined spaces that can fill up with noxious gases and people will suffocate if they’re not wearing breathing apparatus.
“Working around water, working at heights, all of these things can kill our people and they needed to be really well controlled and managed.”
David Langford says councils are some of the most complicated organisations in the country. Photo / Bevan Conley
The report said the current operational wharf at the port may be at risk of structural collapse as the loading capacity wasn’t known.
At the time of the report, it was possible for a heavy vehicle to drive and park in the area.
It was recommended that an engineer was engaged to provide a report of the structure, including safe loading capacities.
The gates and overall security processes for the port were “insufficient”, the tenanted activities at the port were not well understood and two “leading light” marine navigation markers needed urgent inspection and maintenance.
The council’s HSW manager role was vacant at the time of the report but had now been filled, Langford said.
“She started a month ago and we’re making really good progress in starting to tackle some of the high-priority recommendations in the report.
“We’ll continue to report back through the council committees over the next year or so.”
Langford said councils were among the most complicated organisations in the country.
“Being really proactive, having a good handle on what our risks are, and making are our people in the public are kept safe from all of our operations is a real high priority for me.
“I’m a firm believer in being honest with yourself and doing these ‘warts and all’ reviews is a healthy way of making sure we don’t have blind spots.”
He said the report had cost around $40,000.
“For me, it’s money well spent if it makes sure we are doing the right things and keeping people safe.
“That’s one of my philosophies - good health and safety is good for business. It’s always cheaper to pay upfront and avoid accidents.”
