A lesson for us all

Many NZISM members will have watched the sentencing of Safe Business Solutions, and subsequent reporting, with interest. In 2020, Grant Bowling suffered a severe traumatic brain injury after being struck by an agricultural vehicle at work. The incident led to the first sentencing of a consultancy alongside prosecution of the company itself under New Zealand's Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

The company had been hired to provide health and safety advice to Bowling's employer. Despite identifying a "desperate need" for a traffic management plan, the company did not deliver one. This oversight contributed directly to the accident that caused Bowling's life-changing injuries.

What was interesting about this was the use of section 36(2) namely: A PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking. Meaning that health and safety consultants must take all reasonable steps to ensure that their activities do not endanger the health and safety of others. This case immediately brings to mind one of the things I am most passionate about when it comes to health and safety – having competent and capable people in positions that can influence safety outcomes. However, in this case, it is not clear that there was a competency issue, rather it appears to be a delivery issue.

The reality is that we are likely to see those in health and safety increasingly being held to account for their actions and, as such, as we become a stronger more recognised profession, membership and registration with industry bodies, such as NZISM and others within the Health and Safety Association of New Zealand (HASANZ), increases in value as they provide us with a framework to understand accountability, appropriate practices and ethical conduct. NZISM’s Code of Ethics includes a duty to honour your “responsibilities to NZISM, their Branch, their profession, employer, client, colleagues and [yourself]”.

NZISM will also work to provide you with professional resources and support including connecting with other health and safety professionals to share knowledge and best practices, and therefore helping us to understand our own development needs and our limitations.

I have also seen that there is a tendency for health and safety people (both as employees and as consultants) to accept or plan more work than they can realistically manage or deliver. There’s an element of human nature and cognitive bias in this (take a look at the planning fallacy). I’m also not sure we are always as upfront about that as we could be.

Perhaps this is the time to rethink that approach.

Further information on this sentencing is available from WorkSafe: Landmark sentencing puts safety advisors on notice

Ngā mihi,

Robyn Bennett

President