MEDIA RELEASE
14th November 2019
Groundspreaders’ Association Encourages Incident Reporting Amongst All Members
The New Zealand Groundspread Fertilisers Association (NZGFA) is actively encouraging all its members to sign up to free,
real-time incident reporting app, Spotlight. The move comes as interest in best practice incident reporting is on the
rise and as vigilance around health and safety continues to climb to the top of the industry’s agenda.
Grant Anderson, the NZGFA’s Health & Safety representative, says health and safety is of paramount importance in every industry where there is risk and that
ground spreaders are making great efforts to ensure their health and safety and incident prevention procedures are
effective.
“That said, accidents do happen. In recognition of this, we are encouraging all ground spreaders to capture what
happened, report it and share the information so that a similar incident can be prevented.”
He explains that while many ground spreading companies have their own incident log books, he believes using the
Spotlight app will be more beneficial for the industry as a whole.
“The Spotlight app is a really useful tool. It enables the quick reporting of incidents, hazards and near misses at the
time the event occurred. It captures and securely stores the information for analysis and learning and allows the user
to promptly share data with others in the group – while guaranteeing the confidentiality of the user.
“This sharing of information could prevent a serious injury or save a life. The beauty of using the Spotlight app via
the NZGFA is that it means the Association can collate the data, see where the patterns fall and work towards addressing
any recurring issues. The app allows for this without naming names.
“If all our members sign up to Spotlight, we can provide big picture analysis, pinpoint risk and work towards reducing
and eliminating it.”
A link to Spotlight has been added under the NZGFA’s suite of member benefits on the website. However, members wishing
to sign up through the NZGFA, should contact Grant Anderson at grant.anderston@hwr.co.nz. Non-members can join the Association by visiting www.nzgfa.co.nz
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