Subj : 'Sea of road cones' - Consultation on work health and safety begins
To   : All
From : News
Date : Fri Jun 14 2024 02:06 pm

By 1News Reporters
10:43am

The Government has set its sights on New Zealand's work health and safety
culture, describing it as a "sea of orange road cones".

In a statement this morning, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke
van Velden said a "substantial consultation" on work health and safety will
begin today.

The minister said she will be travelling across the country to hear from
businesses and workers who deal with current rules and regulations.

"Our health and safety culture can be summed up by the sea of orange road
cones that have taken over the country," van Velden said.

"From Santa parades to property development, you can't get a lot done without
having to set up a barricade of cones.

"While they may improve health and safety in some places, in other
situations, their prevalence just doesn't make any sense."

She said the consultation was necessary because of the costs related to
keeping people safe.

"It's worthwhile asking: are the rules and expectations proportionate to the
actual risks, and when should common sense prevail?

"Lawyers and company directors should not have to be kept up late at night
anguishing over what `so far as is reasonably practicable' means."

Van Velden said she plans on listening to workers' experiences with the
current system, "including what they think the role of government should be
and where they think we've got the requirements right and wrong".

She said the Government wants to know if health and safety requirements are
too strict or too ambiguous to comply with - and if there is too much of an
overlap between health and safety legislation and other requirements.

She wants to know the actions that businesses are taking, alongside the
reasoning for them and their effectiveness. Van Velden also wants to know if
non-compliance consequences were too strict and if the threshold that risks
must be managed is under-or-over-cautious.

"The actions businesses and workers need to take to protect health and safety
should be appropriate and meaningful rather than just another tick-box
exercise," she said.

"I look forward to meeting Kiwis across New Zealand and hearing their views
directly."

The National-Act coalition agreement included reforming health and safety law
and regulations.

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