Darren Handforth, Ministry of Education Health and Safety Everyone’s responsibility

Darren Handforth, Ministry of Education

Health and Safety

Everyone’s responsibility

New Zealand’s health and safety story

• 75 people die on the job every year

• 600-900 die from work-related diseases • 1 in 10 is harmed

• 200,000 ACC claims for work-related harm

• $3.5 billion in costs (2-4 percent of GDP)

What will be different?

•Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) replaces employer

• Officer now has due diligence duty

• Greater guidance (Worksafe NZ)

• Additional regulations (MBIE)

PCBU: Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking

Primary duty of care for, and controls risks to, the health and safety of workers and others at the workplace

PCBUs ensure

• The health and safety of their workers at work

• The health and safety of workers who are influenced or directed by the PCBU

• The health and safety of others by ensuring they are not put at risk from work carried out at the workplace

PCBU obligations and dutiesSo far as is reasonably practicable, to:

• Provide and maintain a work environment, plant and systems that are without risks to health and safety

• Ensure the safe use, handling and storage of plant, structures and substances

• Provide adequate facilities at work for the welfare of workers, including ensuring access to those facilities

• Provide information, training, instruction or supervision necessary to protect workers and others from risks to their health and safety

• Monitor the health and safety of workers and the conditions at the workplace for the purpose of preventing illness or injury

Officers

Exercise due diligence, which means they must take reasonable steps to ensure the PCBU meets its health and safety obligations

• Know and keep up-to-date about work health and safety matters

• Gain an understanding of the operations of the organisation and the hazards and risks generally associated with those operations

• Ensure the PCBU has appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise those risks

• Ensure the PCBU has appropriate processes for receiving information about incidents, hazards and risks, and for responding to that information

• Ensure there are processes for complying with any duty, and that these are implemented

• Verify that these resources and processes are in place and being used

Duty of officers is to take reasonable steps to:

Duty holders

• PCBU – the Board of Trustees as an entity

• Officer – the individual members of the Board, including the Principal

Duty holders

• Worker – any person who carries out work in any capacity (whether paid or unpaid) for the Board of Trustees, including the Principal

• Other People – any person within the school environment and or workplace including students, parents and members of the public

Supply chain example

Principal Contractor Sub-contractor Worker

PCBUs

Consultation

Consult, coordinate, cooperateSelection, chain supervision and monitoring

Additional changes

● Manufacturers, importers, suppliers and designers of plant and structures are PCBUs and have duties

● Change to Risk Management

● Include workplace use of hazardous substances

● Create new regulations and Codes of Practice

Key players

• Board of Trustees • Principals• School Leaders• Staff• Ministry, NZSTA, ERO• Regulator (WorkSafe)• Ministry Business, Innovation &

Employment (MBIE)

PCBU Officer Worker Other People

Board of Trustees (entity)

Fine up to $300k1 or $1.5M2 or $3M3

Elected/appointed Trustees(individuals)

No fine – exempt from liability for breach of duty

Principal Fine up to $100k1 or $300k2 or$600k3 & up to 5 yrs

Fine up to $50K1, $150k2 or $300k3 & up to 5 yrs

Teachers and other staff Fine up to $50K1, $150k2 or $300k3 & up to 5 yrs

Other people(students, public and parents)

Fine up to $50K1, $150k2 or $300k3 & up to 5 yrs

1. Failure to comply with health and safety duty

2. Failure to comply with health and safety duty exposes individual to risk of death or serious injury/illness3. Without reasonable excuse engages in conduct that exposes any individual to whom health and safety duty is owed to a risk of death or serious injury/illness AND is reckless as to the risk

Roles and Responsibilities

School-run infrastructure projects

“…Effective health and safety means focusing on the high risk areas, not the obscure and inconceivable…”

School Senior Management

• Responsible and accountable for health and safety management and performance in school construction projects

• Demonstrate leadership in health and safety management and active engagement in health and safety performance

• Involved in providing the support and resources required to ensure health and safety is appropriately managed

School Senior Management

• Able to demonstrate that health and safety is actively reviewed and has been taken into consideration in business decisions

• Hold themselves and others accountable for health and safety

Project Manager

• Responsible and accountable that health and safety expectations are being addressed by the main site contractor, consultants and sub-contractors

• Actively engages and communicates with the contractor, consultants and school on health and safety management

Project Manager

• School’s representation for construction projects• Holds the main site contractor responsible for health and

safety on the site• Ensures safety is actively and collaboratively addressed

throughout the lifecycle of the project and with all parties (i.e. Ministry, schools, boards of trustees, consultants, main site contractor, sub-contractors and any other providers)

Main Site Contractor

• Responsible and accountable for the safety of the site and adjacent areas that form egress/ingress to the site

• Responsible and accountable for management of sub-contractors

• Ensures site is maintained in a clean and safe way

Main Site Contractor

• Ensures there is appropriate site security, demarcation and signage of works currently being undertaken

• Works with the school to ensure risks and hazards are appropriately identified and managed

Main Site Contractor

• Responsible for the traffic management of the construction site (incl. site egress/ingress and adjacent roads), and ensures all individuals entering and working on the site are following safety and security requirements and procedures

• Manages incident reporting and holds all individuals accountable for safety management

Main Site Contractor

• Responsible and holds sub-contractors accountable for their management and performance of health and safety

Sub-contractor

• Responsible and accountable to carry out their work safely and to follow all safety procedures and requirements of the main site contractor and the school for the project

• Actively manage health and safety in the work they do, and report incidents and hazards as they occur to the main site contractor

• Responsible to follow all site safety rules and ensure all individuals undergo site inductions

Further guidance

• Health and Safety information to help your school meet the requirements of the current Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992: http://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/specific-initiatives/health-and-safety/

• The Health and Safety regulator: http://www.business.govt.nz/worksafe

• Administrator of Health and Safety legislation: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/