ACC's Workplace Evaluation System - a lever for reform?

Recent discussions occurring as part of the reform of the Health and Safety at Work Act led me to consider what other pieces of legislation exist that impact upon our health and safety environment.

A number of years ago, ACC had a regime called the Workplace Safety Evaluation (WSE) programme. This was targeted at poor performing employers, and what was interesting was that claim information was considered as part of the process. Something that ACC has very good data on.

Section 178 of the Accident Compensation Act states that:

Criteria for upward adjustment of levies
(1) The Corporation may seek to initiate the process in section 179 for the upward adjustment of levies for an employer if it is satisfied that the number and severity of work-related personal injuries occurring to employees of that employer are significantly greater than could reasonably be expected of a comparable employer of that type and size in that industry or risk class.

There is a bit more to it than that - but essentially ACC can determine whether an employer who performs worse than their peers should have an upward adjustment of their levy as an ‘incentive’ to perform better.

This appears to be a great tool in the toolbox that can be used to encourage employers who are lagging in their efforts. I therefore wondered how many times ACC had assessed if there were any employers that might trigger this process, and how many have completed it. My Official Information Act request revealed that ACC has not undertaken any WSE assessments within the last five years, and the last time the WSE programme was reviewed for effectiveness (as per legislative requirements) was in 2005. (Unfortunately the outcome of the review was not able to be found.)

What it says to me, is that we have other legislative levers that can be applied, and if they are not being used, then perhaps we should question why not? And therefore, should we be encouraging their use?

Perhaps in the context of our health and safety reform process, we need to consider the landscape more broadly and include all legislative influences rather than just the Health and Safety at Work Act in isolation.

Ngā mihi

Robyn Bennett

President, NZISM