Kia ora koutou and welcome to the last work-related health newsletter of 2023.

For many businesses there is a lot of work to be done before the holiday season. With work demands and end of year activities, it’s important to remain vigilant about work-related health.

On behalf of WorkSafe, I wish you all a restful break and a happy new year.

Thank you for your continued mahi and support to improve the health of workers in Aotearoa.

Ngā mihi nui

Useful links and guidance to help you get ready for summer.

It’s timely to remind workers who are outdoors, and therefore exposed to harmful UV radiation, about the risks of skin cancer. Read guidance on protecting workers from solar UV radiation below.

You can also see the Cancer Society SunSmart tips for employers: How to adopt a SunSmart workplace policy

Many industries rely on workers being physically and mentally alert. Fatigue is a state of physical and/or mental exhaustion which reduces a person’s ability to perform work safely and effectively.

Carrying out work indoors and outdoors can lead to heat-related illness or injury.

If you are organising an event, it is your responsibility to create a safe environment for everyone who attends. This includes people who work at the event.

We have developed new guidance about identifying and managing health and safety risks for your event, and how to arrange a suitable health service for your event.

This guidance provides advice about identifying and managing health and safety risks for your event.

People who attend or work at your event should be able to receive an appropriate level of treatment and support if they are injured or have health problems, or if there is an emergency. This guidance helps event organisers to arrange a suitable health service for their event.

WorkSafe joined with Kmart New Zealand and Z Energy to look at how businesses minimise psychosocial risks in their workplaces. Negative workplace interactions or environments can impact a worker’s mental health and wellbeing. This is called psychosocial risk.

Workers at Kmart and Z Energy completed a survey and a series of interviews about the policies, practices and procedures in place to protect worker mental wellbeing.

See and hear from real workers about how they deal with psychosocial risks at work.

It’s a common misconception that certain tight-fitting respirators can be worn with facial hair. Some suppliers in New Zealand provide incorrect advice about respirators and facial hair, especially with PAPR (positive air purifying respirator) systems. 

Workers using a respirator must be fit tested and clean shaven. A recent ruling by a joint Australia New Zealand technical committee affirms the limitations and conditions for use of a tight fitting facepiece connected to a PAPR if a worker has facial hair.

WorkSafe has resources on using respiratory protective equipment (RPE) to protect people from breathing in substances hazardous to health.

Following the Health and Safety at Work (Health and Safety Representatives and Committees) Amendment Act passing into law, WorkSafe has updated our good practice guidelines and the interpretive guidelines to support businesses in understanding their obligations under the Act.

Farming is a job with a unique set of challenges. Many are hard to predict or control. They range from climate events like drought and flood to fluctuations in commodity prices, changing government legislation and new technology.

Research shows many farmers are great at looking after their equipment and stock, but, like other New Zealanders, they can neglect their own wellbeing. As an industry, we can’t afford to let these pressures reach the point where they damage productivity and affect the lives of families.

Farmstrong is an initiative to help farmers, growers and their families to cope with the ups and downs of farming by sharing things they can do to look after themselves and the people in their business.

HASANZ is pleased to announce a new round of HASANZ Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) Scholarships. This special category of scholarships was created to grow the number of fully qualified HFE professionals across all levels and to attract new people into the HFE discipline.

March 19-20, 2024 - National Health & Safety Leaders’ Summit - Auckland

Information about notifying WorkSafe during the holiday period is available on our website.