CTU Media Release

3 November 2011

Focus on Health and Safety welcomed

CTU welcomes announcements today that Labour would bring a greater focus to Health and Safety in New Zealand workplaces.

Helen Kelly, CTU President said “re-regulating the mining industry is an important step forward from the current approach which relies on self regulation and is obviously not working for our miners.”

“Recognition that in high-risk industries, like construction, farming and road transport there needs to be additional measures and that these industries may require specific industry standards, is welcome.”

“The idea of Health and Safety as part of a national conversation is overdue and is exactly the way that we should be thinking about Health and Safety as a country. We need to get to a place where its OK to raise concerns about health and safety at work without fear of repercussions, and in the knowledge that concerns will be taken seriously.”

Helen Kelly said “ we need to take a serious look at the way we treat health and safety in new Zealand, we have to ask ourselves why our record of workplace accidents and injuries isn’t improving and what we need to do about it. Establishing a Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety to look into these issues specifically will bring that focus to an important issue for all New Zealanders.”

“This has been a bad year for New Zealand workplace deaths and accidents. But every year is a bad year actually, more than 200,000 workers are seriously harmed in New Zealand workplaces each year. We support moves from Labour to bolster our Health and Safety Regulation and seriously consider our health and safety culture.”

ENDS

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