Canterbury conference

Kia ora koutou members and supporters. Last week I attended the Canterbury CPD Conference, Sharing Solutions for a Stronger Future, which was held in conjunction with NZOHNA. It was wonderful to see so many health and safety practitioners and professionals gathered to engage in face-to-face networking and professional development. I’d like to extend my gratitude to all those involved in delivering this conference. It’s a massive undertaking with many hours of work contributed by local volunteers, the national office, and our generous speakers and sponsors. I enjoyed hearing from a variety of experts, who came together to share their knowledge and experience for the benefit of all who attended.

I had the opportunity at the conference to present the HSR capabilities and project overview, enabling us to refine and review the capabilities we are articulating as being critical to the success of an HSR. I'm delivering a number of these roadshows around the country. Due to the timelines of this project, I'm unable to get to every branch but have selected a few regional branches as well as the main centres and would like to encourage members to bring along their HSRs. Their input is integral to the success of this project, as is the knowledge and experience of the H&S profession.

This project is focused on articulating what capabilities will enable HSRs to successfully undertake their roles. By doing this work we hope to be able to provide HSRs with a pathway, which will support their ongoing training and development. We will also build a self-assessment tool, similar to what our members are using now, to help showcase what gaps they have in their knowledge. While this won’t resolve all of the issues we know exist around HSRs, it is another piece of the puzzle, offering guidance to HSRs and organisations. We hope this is used to help determine what development opportunities are provided to HSRs, and also offer those who wish to expand their knowledge in health and safety, access to tools and information that can support their ongoing professional development. Keep an eye out for further newsletter updates to hear how this project is progressing. I’ll be keeping our members informed as we move through the various stages of development.

Selena Armstrong

CEO, NZISM