Latest News
Read our latest news and updates below
President's Blog 23/12/20
Kia ora koutou to all members and supporters of NZISM. As we wind down for the end of the year, I know many of us will be relieved 2020 is nearly over. Our experiences will be unique to us as individuals, and although it's not always a pleasant experience, it’s a good time to reflect on what didn’t go so well, and in this year most importantly, what successes we had. ...
NZISM joins Standards NZ IRG
For some time, New Zealand Inc. held observer (O) membership of ISO/Technical Committee 283 – Occupational Health and Safety Management. In October 2020, New Zealand moved to participating (P) membership. This came around due to specific interest relating to a standard being developed by working group 2 (WG 2), ISO/Draft International Standard (DIS) 45003 - Occupational health and safety management — Psychological health and safety at work: managing psychosocial risks — Guidelines. An International Review Group (IRG) was established made up of five persons, all with relevant backgrounds. ...
CEO's Update 9/12/20
Kia ora koutou members and supporters, Thanks to everyone who took time out to respond to our annual survey. We have had such a great response and we are working through all of the comments and suggestions to ensure we capture everything. This is the most important activity for us in terms of ensuring the decisions we make align with the expectations of our members. We read every comment to learn from our mistakes, to do more of what you love, and to drive a focus on the things that matter to you. ...
President's Blog 25/11/20
Kia ora koutou to all members and supporters of NZISM. NZISM frequently provides content to the media on health and safety issues. Occasionally there is interest and uptake, although rarely do we make it to the larger media outlets. Recently we have been promoting NZISM as a willing and collaborative partner in the wider discussion regarding management of healthcare, border control and quarantine facilities, with the intent of providing our expertise to add depth and a different lens to the current approach. ...
Robyn Bennett urges COVID-19 taskforce
NZISM President, Robyn Bennett, joins expert guests on RNZ's The Panel'. She argues an urgent task force is needed to address COVID-19 health and safety at work risks, especially in healthcare and other high risk areas. Can we marry clinical and health & safety perspectives? ...
CEO Update 11/11/20
Kia ora members and supporters: NZISM, on behalf of its members, welcomes Michael Wood as the new Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety. As we have done previously we will be offering Michael NZISM honorary membership for his Ministerial term and we look forward to working with him to influence better health and safety outcomes at work. We will be following with interest the decisions he makes early on, with a hope that any potential review of the HSWA further strengthens the role that health and safety practitioners and professionals play in keeping workers safe. ...
NZISM / Saiosh Reciprocal Agreement
New Zealand Institute of Safety Management (NZISM) and South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Saiosh) are excited to announce the signing of a Reciprocal Agreement. This is an important step in opening up our global partnerships and acknowledging the internationally aligned standards for the health and safety profession within our two countries. This agreement provides a framework for continued cooperation and mutual recognition of our members. Reciprocal grading will be applied with the following alignment: ...
President's Blog 28/10/20
Kia ora koutou to all members and supporters of NZISM. Recently I was fortunate enough to attend a presentation by Neil Mookerjee who holds the role of Duty Holder Review Manager, Specialist Interventions at WorkSafe. He outlined the role of the Duty Holder Review Team and how they support organisations with their investigations. ...
Annual report 2020
We invite you to take the time to explore the digital version of our 2020 Annual Report 2019-20. You can navigate your way around the document using the encircled buttons on the right hand side of the pages and also from the subheadings on the Contents page. ...
CEO Update 14/10/20
Kia ora koutou members and supporters. This update is written with a mixture of sadness and pride. I received a message from a member last weekend to advise they had been in the depths of despair and had been contemplating suicide. My heart sank with the news, and I immediately called our member, who will remain anonymous but who has given permission to tell a small part of their story. ...
President's Blog 30/09/20
Kia ora koutou to all members and supporters of NZISM. I have been fortunate enough over the course of my career to audit a number of companies and recently I was back at one where, over the course of two years, they have achieved what can only be described as transformational change. ...
RCS health assessment pathway
WorkSafe, ACC and the Ministry of Health have been working collaboratively with health professionals in the national Dust Diseases Taskforce to understand and respond to the emerging risk to engineered stone workers of exposure to respiratory crystalline silica (RCS). RCS can cause accelerated silicosis, a potentially serious lung disease. This has been seen overseas in those working with engineered (i.e. artificial) stone used in the benchtop industry. ...
CEO Update 16/9/20
Kia ora koutou katoa members and supporters, Thank you to all those that attended our virtual AGM last Thursday. When I think about the very first AGM I attended, I had been in the role just under a month. We headed to New Plymouth for the National Executive Committee meeting and had the AGM combined that afternoon. I believe we had a handful of members attempting to watch online but the video and sound quality were nothing like what we now experience using Zoom virtual meeting software. I'm keen to hear from you about your experience with this year's online AGM because delivering these online means more members get to participate in the formal procedures and I believe it makes sense to continue this approach moving forward. ...
President's Blog 2/09/20
Kia ora koutou to all members and supporters of NZISM. All good things come to an end. As I write this I am in the last few days of my term as President of NZISM with Robyn Bennett stepping into the role at this year’s AGM on the 9th September. I wish her every success and I am looking forward to following the development of the organisation with Robyn as President. With NZISM still in the early stages of its new management structure, there are many opportunities for growth and I am keen to follow how we, through you our members, contribute to the improvement of New Zealand’s performance in health and safety at work. ...
President's Blog 5/8/20
Kia ora koutou to all members and supporters of NZISM. What an absolutely enlightening five weeks it has been listening to Nippin Anand and his commentary on becoming a Learning Organisation. I have spoken to a number of attendees who were mesmerised by Nippin’s storytelling ability and there has been a huge number of comments across social media about the benefits people got from attending this event. Here are my own personal 'takeaways'... ...
Introducing Robyn Bennett
We are delighted to introduce you to our presidential nominee, Robyn Bennett, who will become our new NZISM President after September's AGM. ...
Introducing the Community of Safety Innovation
Re-thinking traditional work problems using innovation processes is the idea behind a new group set up to share ideas and build the country’s innovative capability. ...
CEO's Update 22/7/20
Kia ora koutou katoa members and supporters, For those of us who have been fortunate enough to spend time with Nippin Anand, he has given us much to consider. In this increasingly fast-paced world of work, it often feels like a luxury to take time out of our busy schedules to learn or reflect on our work practices. These past few weeks have enabled me to reflect on several areas of my professional practice, and I would like to share some of these thoughts with you. ...
Phil Parkes, Honorary Member
NZISM is delighted that Phil Parkes, CEO of WorkSafe, has joined our community as an honorary member. NZISM is committed to leading the way for the health and safety profession and, through the development and support of our members, ensuring safer and healthier work outcomes. It's great to be sharing ideas and working in even closer alignment with our industry regulator. ...
President's Update 7/7/2020
Kia ora koutou members and supporters of NZISM. Over the last 6 weeks or so the NZISM branch network has held its AGMs where we have had some long-standing branch managers step down from their role and new faces take the opportunity to be involved in a leadership role within our great organisation. As many of you will know, in September this year I too will be stepping down from the role of President, a role I have held for 4 years, and passing the role onto someone else. For those unable to attend these recent AGMs the following are some of my reflections about key developments of NZISM since 2016. I want to comment on three broad areas of our structure and systems, membership and stakeholders, and education. ...
CEO's Update 24/6/20
Kia ora koutou members and supporters...The end of this month will complete the grace period for NZISM membership renewals. This means only those who have renewed for 2020 will be able to access the bank of resources we have accumulated and the upcoming online Masterclass Workshop Series with Nippin Anand. ...
President's Update 10/6/20
Kia ora koutou to all members and supporters of NZISM.... Members will be aware that this week was supposed to have been Safeguard Conference week and aligned to that NZISM had been scheduled to host the annual INSHPO Workshop and Board meeting over the weekend just gone. Obviously, this face-to-face event didn’t occur, however COVID didn’t stop the INSHPO Board meeting over the weekend with four separate events spread over 3 days. I had the unenviable task of coordinating the agenda for these events and trying to ensure that attendees were not too badly affected by the multiple time zones that had to be considered. ...
CEO's Update 27/5/20
Kia ora koutou katoa members and supporters... Last week marked the move to level 2 for New Zealand and with that a move back into workplaces for some, and for those of us with children, back to school, while we continue to work from home. I have read that to support our wellbeing we should practice gratitude regularly. While this can sometimes be a struggle, especially now for those who may have found themselves out of work, or those having difficulty adjusting to the changes we are experiencing, something I have been doing more recently is looking for silver linings wherever I can. ...
