NZISM News 27 May 2026
The NZISM Board and I have been doing lots of thinking about where we’d like to see NZISM in 2030. Our member survey in February was strongly focussed on what you’d like us to do more and change about NZISM.
We’ve taken stock of our current Strategy. We’ve met with our life members and Certified Fellows to understand where our most senior practitioners want to see NZISM go. We’ve held workshops with key stakeholders like Sharon Thompson at WorkSafe NZ, Francois Barton at the Business Leaders' Health and Safety Forum, and Joe Bain at Engineering New Zealand. We’ve worked with Jo Cribb to set the strategy and tested it with key volunteers.
I’m pleased to unveil the new Strategy to members. I believe our work under these four pillars will make a real difference to NZISM, the health and safety profession and New Zealand workplaces.
Advocacy for change. We’ve worked hard the last couple of years to be more visible in the public arena and to build coalitions to improve safety laws.
Our plan is to continue campaigning for better outcomes through a consistent campaigning approach (after the HSWA Bill, on to the election, then the new Government).
We’ll also take a deliberate approach to working with Government, regulators, stakeholders and our international sister organisations.
An exceptional member experience. Expect more local and online branch events as branches roll out ambitious programmes (such as Otago's lunch-and-learn series or Auckland's 21-event CAP series). We're also planning new sector and special interest groups. We’re also exploring new member benefits such as a merchandise portal, podcasts, and a more deliberate member journey powered by our new AMS.
Increased professionalism. We’ve seen consistent growth in our numbers of accredited members but I want to ensure that our accreditation framework is as good as it can be. A major review of our accreditation framework will be scoped this year and delivered over the following two.
We're also forming a new Professional Standards Committee to lift our game in relation to professional standards. Watch this space for an announcement soon about the membership and work of this Committee.
Sustaining and growing NZISM. One of the focuses for this year is revenue diversification. Put bluntly, it would be great to be able to do new cool things without passing on costs to the membership fee. I’m keen to kick the tires on our sponsorship model and have a more proactive approach to grant and enforceable undertaking funding.
A People Strategy and continued AMS improvements round out the year.
It's an ambitious plan, but a practical one: most of it is achievable within existing resources, with targeted investment where it counts. We'll keep you posted as projects progress and there will always be opportunities to be involved and help shape our future.
Ngā mihi
Jeff Sissons
NZISM CEO
Rethink of Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill urged
New Zealand's peak workplace H&S organisations — BHSLF, NZCTU, NZISM & HASANZ - has written jointly to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety calling for refinements to the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill currently before Select Committee.
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