Empowering women in health and safety
The Women in Safety & Heath Excellence (WISE) network creates a space to empower women working in health and safety.
The WISE network was established by Margaret van Schaik and Helen Parkes in 2010 and now has over 1,100 members across New Zealand, represented in all sectors of business and industry.
The network promotes the equity and advancement of women in OHS, striving to continuously influence industry to address current and future health and safety challenges affecting women in the workforce locally, nationally and globally.
Internationally, Women in Safety Excellence (WISE) common interest groups are well established with the goal of advancing their members and the safety profession through education, mentorship, networking, collaboration, research and innovation.
Regional network leads
There are 12 WISE regional network groups across the Motu, each led by a volunteer Regional Lead focused on developing a collaborative and supportive network in their local region.
The purpose of the WISE Regional network groups is to:
- Build a community by developing collaborative and supportive networks of women working in safety and health disciplines (as reflected in the HASANZ membership) in their home regions.
- Inspire women to connect, collaborate, learn, grow, and impact the wider safety and health system.
- Share our greatest achievements and biggest challenges, learn from each other, and support one another.
If you would like to enquire about networking in your area, please email Pam Mitchell at pammitchell@xtra.co.nz.
KEEP IN TOUCH
To become a member of the WISE network all you need to do is register below and join our LinkedIn page.
Having your contact details enables us to communicate effectively and keep you updated on relevant events, initiatives and outcomes, and to understand a little more about you and how we can best support you.
Our Network Partner
We are supported in our work by HSI Donesafe, our highly-valued Network Partner.
HSI Donesafe shares our commitment to helping women enter and succeed in the exciting, meaningful, and multi-faceted world of workplace Health & Safety.
Through this important partnership, we encourage and empower women, offering development, mentorship and opportunities for local connection and support.
Capability Development Project
WISE drives a number of strategic initiatives designed to support women entering into and moving up through the health and safety profession in New Zealand. One of our key initiatives is the WISE Capability Development Project, which specifically supports women who want to move from a technical level, into leadership and governance roles.
In 2021, in support of the capability project, WISE completed research into professional development opportunities available for OHS practitioners wanting to move into leadership and governance roles. The outcome is the Career Development Pathway Research Report.
The report provides a useful overview of the availability and cost of courses/short courses/programmes (both domestic and international) available to help OHS practitioners take their next step forward.
We hope you find it an interesting read and encourage you to share it widely amongst your colleagues and peers. Good luck to those of you who have set your sights on leadership or governance positions. With a lot of the 'leg work' done for you, we hope you find the report a useful resource that will help make your next step forward just that little bit easier.
HASANZ Women In Safety scholarship
The WISE Network, with support from business partners, sponsors one of the HASANZ scholarships.
Each year, the HASANZ WISE Scholarship supports a female health and safety professional in up-skilling from a technical level into leadership and governance.
2022 - Candis Hawkins earned the HASANZ WISE Scholarship and used the funds to complete the Executive Ready Programme run by Women & Leadership Australia (WLA). The programme has enabled Candis to drive Safety Differently as a strategic game changer.
2023 - Deborah Cameron and Miriska Gerber were both awarded the HASANZ Women in Safety scholarship. They used their scholarships to extend their development into governance by attending the IoD's Company Director's Course.
2024 - Jessie Bourke and Annette Paul
Jessie's scholarship enabled her to spread her wings and fly - all the way over to the USA to participate in Harvard University's Women Leaders, Advancing Together Program; Annette's scholarship enabled her to participate in the Leading and Managing People in Organisations (EMBA) at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University.