Health and Safety stories
Smart PPE that stores vital data on the gear itself will help speed emergency response for construction and industrial workers.
Workplace cuts and crush injuries can be reduced by simple precautions, saving firms costly downtime and staff from painful hand damage.
A company’s ignored maintenance warnings ended in a fatal three-metre fall and a GBP £279,000 fine for unsafe trailer edge protection.
A workplace knife slip can still cut legs and arms, prompting safety managers to pair gloves with safer tools and training.
Power was cut to a neighbourhood in Auckland’s CBD after a worker struck an 11kv cable, exposing gaps in permit-to-dig checks.
The closure delayed freight for nearly 24 hours after a truck struck a Taihape rail bridge, with 11 trains cancelled and costs to be recovered.
Homeowners could void insurance and face unsafe repairs if they hire unlicensed plumbers, after a tradesman was fined NZD $6,000 in Auckland.
Regular reminders can cut preventable injuries in manufacturing, from machine guards and PPE to fire drills and fall protection.
Poorly managed hazards can drive injuries and illness, so businesses need clear controls, training and PPE to protect workers.
Owners of unsafe buildings can face deadlines of 7.5 or 15 years to strengthen or demolish them, with council support available.
Revenue losses from alert-level changes could unlock wage subsidies, cashflow grants and loans for firms and sole traders across New Zealand.
Cut injuries can still strike even workplaces with no recent incidents, Martor Australia says, as safety knives are often overlooked.
A court has ordered VINZ to pay more than GBP £500,000 after a customer was struck by a vehicle at its Hamilton testing site and later died.
Proper PPE can prevent injuries and lost wages, while also saving employers time and money after workplace accidents.
Eight workers suffered chemical burns after poor oversight of Mycoplasma bovis clean-up left sodium hydroxide seeping into gloves.
Seatbelt non-use is behind about 10 work fatalities a year in New Zealand, with farm vehicle deaths accounting for a large share.
Staff shortages and heavy workloads are keeping many industrial and trades workers at work even when ill, a New Zealand survey finds.
WorkSafe said repeated tip alarm warnings went unheeded before a straddle carrier overturned, killing a stevedore in 2018.
Many external HR and safety consultants now need a Private Investigator licence to conduct workplace probes, or risk breaching the Act.
A Dunedin court has fined a plumbing firm and its director after a bathroom heater installation caused a 12-year-old boy’s carbon monoxide death.
