Our 2011 election manifesto - Labour Party

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS – HEALTH AND SAFETY
Our vision
The tragic loss of life in the Pike River Mine disaster and Onehunga gas explosion is a wakeup
call to improve our workplace health and safety standards. The loss of 85 New
Zealanders in workplace accidents in the last year and tens of thousands of work related
injury claims is not getting the attention it needs.
For every person who is killed or injured at work, the loss and impact on families, workmates
and friends is enormous. Not only does it cost families, but it costs all New Zealanders in
health, ACC, and productivity.
Despite improvements in workplace technologies, including safer machinery and equipment
and greater employee involvement in workplace health and safety following Labour‟s
amendments to the Health and Safety Employment Act, New Zealand‟s workplace accident
rate remains far too high.
Self-regulation has too often led to a lack of standards and recent funding cuts to key health
and safety inspectorate positions means even less oversight of the limited regulations that
we do have.
New Zealand needs to ensure that workers and employers are encouraged to be open and
honest about workplace safety. The introduction of workplace experience ratings in ACC is a
step backwards which will discourage accident reporting.
There needs to be a fundamental change in how we approach workplace health and safety.
It has to be more than just a „tick-box‟ exercise for employers. It must become part of our
everyday thinking and planning. It should be part of the national conversation in the same
way the road toll is talked about and campaigned on.
Labour is committed to creating safer workplaces, preventing accidents by raising standards
and ensuring that injured workers are entitled to compensation and assistance.
Labour will elevate public awareness and responses around workplace deaths and
injuries to where they are taken as seriously as the road toll.
Labour will establish a Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand Workplace Health
and Safety, which would be tasked with examining why New Zealand‟s record of
workplace accidents and injuries is not improving, what measures are needed to
reduce them, how other comparable countries are able to have a lower per worker
rate of injury and death and how changes should be implemented.
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