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.

It was a special occasion with Greg Dearsly stepping down from his role as President. We needed to recognise Greg's contribution in a fitting way and were delighted to be able to honour him with Life Membership to NZISM. It was wonderful to hear from the Senior Leadership Team and from our Board Chair about the influence that Greg has had on NZISM. His valedictory speech was well received and being able to present Greg with such a significant taonga for his time with NZISM was a lovely moment for me. If you would like to watch the recording of the AGM, you are able to do so.

If you haven’t done so already, please take a look at our new online myCPD tool. If you are an accredited member, I'd ask you to review your personalised content transferred from Skilsure and check that your plans and records are accurate. We won’t have a big window to resolve any issues, so it pays to review your content now and advise us immediately if there's anything amiss.

Thank you to those who participated in the recent WorkSafe document reviews. Your feedback is critical to ensure that the voice of the profession is heard and to ensure the messages put out by the regulator help resolve the issues you face every day. I have also passed on the names of those members interested in attending the Auckland workshop on supply chain pressures. WorkSafe will contact you directly once they are ready to send out invites.

We now welcome in an era of change for NZISM with Robyn Bennett becoming our first-ever female President. The appointment is significant and results in the NZISM having a female majority Governance Board and Senior Leadership Team, which is likely to be unique for our industry. I know you all join me in welcoming Robyn into her role as your member representative. Together we look forward to continuing to grow our organisation and lead the way for the health and safety profession in New Zealand.

Ngā mihi

Selena