We had our say

By NZISM Master account

31/10/2024


We had our say

NZISM’s collective response to the Government's call to "Have Your Say" on health and safety reform has been released. It is a document we can all be proud of and a testament to what can be achieved when knowledgeable and engaged professionals unite to have their voices heard.

Our thanks go out to the NZISM submissions writing team (Jeff Sissons, Mike Cosman, Robyn Bennett and Kim Payton) and to ALL members who invested the time to contribute. Your input was invaluable and greatly appreciated.

The 'design and build' process

  1. Survey. Input from over 1,321 respondents enabled us to set overarching messages which fed into both the industry’s joint open letter to the Minister and the submission.
  2. Drafting. Our submissions writing team crafted an initial response which was submitted to members for feedback.
  3. Honing. Feedback was analysed and threaded through to the final document, serving to both broaden our thinking and add depth through specific examples.
  4. Presentation.

You can view both NZISM’s submission and our open letter Letter to the Minister below.

The open letter

The joint open letter to the Minister - poignantly released on Labour Day - demonstrated unprecedented unity amongst health and safety, business and union communities and, rather than re-writing the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, urged the Government to focus on three things:

  1. Better system leadership and coordination
  2. Improving and investing in WorkSafe, and
  3. Better regulations and guidance

It was signed by:

  • NZISM (Robyn Bennett, President)
  • Business NZ (Katherine Rich, CE)
  • HASANZ (Mike O'Brien, Chair)
  • NZCTU (Richard Wagstaff, President)
  • Business Leaders' Health & Safety Forum (Francois Barton, CEO

and further strengthened by official endorsement from 16 key health and safety organisations.

It is a strong statement to Government from those who understand and deal in health and safety, or its consequences, every day.