Bay of Plenty Business News February/March 2018

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16 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS February/March 2018 WORKPLACE HEALTH & SAFETY Speaking from experience Amped4Life was set up in 2002 to create substance abuse prevention programmes, drawing on the recovery experience of founder Pat Buckley. By DAVID PORTER But while the organisation continues to reach out to high schools and community groups, delivering specialised services that reflect the needs of the community and the experience of children and youth, Amped4Life’s programmes are increasingly finding traction with employers. “We recognised it was also an issue in the workplace and the wider community,” said Buckley. Any misgivings staff may have had about attending a one-hour drug and alcohol presentation were quickly dismissed as Pat launched into a professional, edgy, real, from personal experience presentation. “There are challenges with workplace drug testing, and employees can often feel like they are being harassed. We wanted to offer solutions, presentations and programmes to help employers and employees to bridge the gap between them.” Amped4Life has now been working with industry for a number of years especially in the forestry sector, and with major corporates in other sectors, to provide meaningful solutions to substance use and abuse in the workplace. One of the key messages the organisation aims to get across is that with tightening laws around workplace health and safety, employers have no choice when it comes to drug testing. “We want employees to understand that, first of all, they are going to be tested in the workplace - it’s coming about because of OSH and ACC requirements,” said Buckley. And much as employers may wish to retain their workforce, there will come a time when they have no choice in responding when substance problems emerge. Dealing with drug-related problems were very much part of employer health and safety measures and employers needed to have in place regular Amped4life founder Pat Buckley: Bridging the gap between employers and employees over drug testing. Photo/Supplied education and ways to combat it affecting workplace safety and health, he said. “Regulatory requirements include the regular testing of your workers - if you injure yourself at a workplace, and you are found to be under the influence of drugs, the regulators could [potentially] shut the employer’s business down.” Buckley said Amped4Life’s programmes aimed to challenge people on where they were at with their own personal out-of-work habits. “We want to challenge people to have a better lifestyle, not only for themselves with sustainable work, but to create and model a better life for their family and their kids.” Buckley’s programmes draw upon his own experiences - he has been clean and in recovery from his substance issues for 23 years. “I come at it from a very personal viewpoint, and talk about the carnage of addiction and abuse in my own life,” he said. “I’m passionate about people creating a better life through their choices, and the workplace is another aspect of life.” Kiwifruit grower Ian McBride, who was HR, safety and compliance manager at Sequal Lumber for several years until January, said Buckley had been invited to speak to the entire team at the company’s Kawerau mill. “Any misgivings staff may have had about attending a one-hour drug and alcohol presentation were quickly dismissed as Pat launched into a professional, edgy, real, from personal experience presentation,” McBride said. “Pat quickly moved to where the rubber meets the road in terms of drug and alcohol use and abuse. In an intensely personal, sometimes tragic and shocking style mixed with a sharp wit and humour he had our full attention. Feedback from the team after the presentation was only positive.”
WORKPLACE HEALTH & SAFETY BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS February/March 2018 17 New online model for health and safety in the workplace Health and safety is becoming a core central value driver in every business in New Zealand and around the world, says Nathan Hight, founder of an innovative new online-based approach, Safe365. “The government has made it very clear in recent regulatory reforms that they want changes implemented,” said Hight. “Workplace accidents are a real blight on our society. We looked at the traditional model for how businesses were understanding where they were at, and what they had to do to make sure their businesses were safe for employment. And we have come up with an alternative model.” The traditional, tried and true approach for decades has been for a business to engage someone with expertise who, for a fee, sits down with them, does a health and safety audit, makes recommendations and proposes a price tag for implementing the changes, he said. “The cost for both small and large businesses can be significant. And that’s not really to get a solution, but just a starting point.” Hight says that as a result, many businesses have not really developed the processes and capabilities they need to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. In addition, unlike professions such as accounting and legal services, there is no standardised quality assurance when it comes to health and safety consulting, and considerable variability. “There are some very good health and safety consultants who are aligned to all the new thinking around risks and understand that behavioural and workplace culture changes are where it’s at. But equally, we believe there are a number of consultants in the market who don’t have the expertise to provide good solid advice.” Hight noted that the government is working through the Health and Safety Association of New Zealand as part of industry moves to get the entire advisory community to scale up and standardise its capabilities. “Our approach is modeled on companies like Xero, that have taken what was once an exclusive professional skill set and made it possible for people to become more sophisticated at doing the lower-end stuff themselves,” said Hight. “That helps save an inordinate amount of money and time across the whole economy.” Nathan Hight with Ron Williams, a director of Safe365 client Harris Dowd Construction: At the National Convention Centre site, Auckland. Photo/supplied. Safe365’s model is, rather than to have an adviser come in to do a company H&S warrant of fitness, to create an online system that a business owner or manager can jump on and within an hour develop a very clear visibility on where their company is at relative to current legislation and international health and safety standards. Safe365, which was launched in 2016 and has now been used by some 700 businesses and organisations, allows users to sign up through a browser where they answer a series of questions divided into 10 modules. This allows the users to objectively assess their organisation’s health and safety capabilities and identify what needs to be done to improve. The Safe365 algorithms produce a dashboard, providing a visual reference to where the company is at. Within that, attached to each element, users can dive into the detail of what actions, resources and support are required. Users can begin with a 10-day free trial, then need to move to a paid subscription for continuing detailed access to resources. It is also possible to buy bulk licences, allowing larger companies - or those working with a number of subcontractors - to look at and compare each component across the organisation. “It means they can see and evaluate each of those moving parts and the head office can align their workflow and health and safety practices both vertically and horizontally.” Oliver Sanandres, head of health safety and wellbeing at Auckland Council, which has a number of licences, says the beauty of Safe365 is that it is so easy to use. “You do not need to be a health and safety expert to use this product… it takes the fear away from starting the journey.”
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Bay of Plenty Business News February/March 2018

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