It is the duty of the state no less to protect their citizens and respect the sanctity of life. Toward this end, it is imperative that the health and safety of its people are safeguarded.
New Zealand workplace fatalities and injuries in the last six years have been increasing.
The negative externalities of workplace accidents equate to serious social and economic costs. Moreover, it has critical consequences to the quality of life to the country’s citizens. It is also linked to the broader issues of labour regulation reforms and economic efficiency.
Government agencies spearheaded by DOL established the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy (WHSS) or Strategy, for New Zealand. It identified five priority sectors found to have high levels of workplace accidents and fatalities, namely: construction, agriculture, forestry, manufacturing and fishing.
The goal of the study was how the Strategy addressed the critical variables in the implementation process.
The analytical framework was based on the analysis of the implementation of the WHSS and its action agenda. The study found that the content in terms of goals and methods can still be narrowed and specifically directed to the regions in New Zealand with high fatalities and injuries. The approach of partnering and collaborating in the WHSS can be replicated at the firm level to engage workers in the implementation. This could translate to behavioural changes from the workers. Moreover, the WHSS is implemented with more enforcement activities in the priority sectors. The nature of enforcement runs counter to the approach of collaboration and thus hinders innovation and active participation. It is thus recommended to implement a moratorium on random inspections among firms that are actively involved in the WHSS implementation.
The study was not in any way comprehensive. It is the desired goal however, that the recommendations would serve to enrich the WHSS.