WorkSafe's long and winding road

We understand that a major theme in Minister van Velden’s road show has been WorkSafe’s performance and interactions. This is not a surprise. There is a crisis in confidence in the primary health and safety regulator; Safeguard’s 2024 State of the Nation Survey in March found that only 16% of respondents thought WorkSafe was performing well.

Our April member survey found that the majority (77%) of our members’ interactions with WorkSafe in the last twelve months had been positive and that WorkSafe’s guidance was well-used. But many respondents raised concerns about the culture of and resourcing in WorkSafe.

We know from recent work by the Business Leaders' Health and Safety Forum that WorkSafe’s inspector numbers are well below the 10:100,000 workers that Australia strives for (currently 6.1:100,000 excluding trainees). Recent discussions with WorkSafe have elucidated that 64% of their 548 guidance products are out of date.

WorkSafe’s 2023/24 Quarterly Report has recently been published and it contains both glimmers of hope and cause for concern:

• WorkSafe is on the verge of completing the actions required of it by the SageBush review. This may strengthen any case for further investment.
• WorkSafe has delivered a small surplus without significantly decreasing many key regulatory activities.
• Staff turnover remains wincingly high at 29.4%. This points to a real need to rebuild the culture.

Another restructuring related to WorkSafe losing the ACC Injury Prevention funding waits in the wings and we understand will shortly be announced. We hope that WorkSafe will endeavour to ensure that it retains capability (including in relation to work-related health).

We are seeing some green shoots of a new approach to guidance:

• We have seen a new and improved version of the Mentally Healthy Work Good Practice Guide. This will soon come back out for public consultation.
• WorkSafe has been engaging with NZISM and other key stakeholders on how to improve their guidance development (and endorsement) processes. We will have more to say on this later; I believe there may be some opportunities to address some long-standing issues.

Those who have read our draft submission know NZISM’s view is that an effective regulator is an essential part of the health and safety system. We also advocate for adequate resourcing in the health and safety system including the regulator.

Sharon Thompson, the new WorkSafe Chief Executive, begins early next month. She has a challenge ahead of her. We are here to help.

Ngā mihi

Jeff Sissons

CEO, NZISM