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Kia ora koutou and welcome to our first work-related health newsletter for 2024. Thank you for subscribing to get the latest updates to your inbox.
For many people, the start of a new year is a time to reassess things – what’s working well and what needs to change, and make new goals. This applies to work too.
Businesses must manage both the physical and mental health risks of work. We have new information on our website to help ensure a mentally healthy work environment. Check it out, and more useful information, in the newsletter below.
In this edition:
- Starting the mentally healthy work journey
- Musculoskeletal disorders: Review of hazardous manual task risk assessments
- Staying safe in the heat
- Self-reporting asbestos exposure registration closed
- Occupational hygiene training courses in 2024
- Workplace injury prevention grant applications open in March
- New Zealand Workplace Health & Safety Awards entries are open
- How CHASNZ is keeping builders safe
- ACC’s campaign to ‘Have a hmmm’ this summer
- Upcoming conferences
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We have new information on our website for businesses at the beginning of their mentally healthy work journey. Find out about why mentally healthy work is a health and safety issue, the impact of harmful work, identifying risk and protective factors, creating a mentally healthy work culture, psychosocial factors, and how leaders can create positive change in the workplace.
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This report reviews hazardous manual task risk assessments and recommends the tools that are most appropriate for use in Aotearoa New Zealand. As with all health and safety risks, businesses must eliminate musculoskeletal risks from work, or if risks can’t be eliminated they must be minimised. Hazardous manual task risk assessments can identify risk factors and support the implementation of controls.
Read the report for our review and recommendations:
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Managing heat is an issue where being flexible is critical, such as by adapting when certain tasks are done – for example, working in enclosed spaces in the early morning before it gets too hot. We encourage workers who see ways to improve working in the heat to speak up and share these with their health and safety representative or business – most businesses do implement these good ideas.
Check out our website for more information on working in heat:
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From 6 December 2023 WorkSafe will no longer accept new registrations to the asbestos exposure register. This was a self-reporting database where workers notified if they thought they may have been exposed to asbestos-containing material. We will continue to hold the information currently on the register securely and are working on a solution for how this information will be managed in the future. Information in the register is only accessible by the registrar and the client. If you have queries about your personal information in the register, please email AERRegistrar@worksafe.govt.nz.
From now on to report asbestos exposure please use the online form on our website:
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The New Zealand Occupational Hygiene Society (NZOHS) has shared its training courses for this year on occupational hygiene and risk exposure management topics.
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ACC’s fifth and final round of injury prevention grant applications for good work design initiatives opens on 4 March. $22 million is being invested to help create safer workplaces by partnering with businesses and industry groups. The focus is on improving health and safety in the manufacturing sector. ACC is looking for initiatives that can eliminate or significantly reduce hazards and lower injuries through good work design approaches or the adoption of effective technology and/or engineered solutions.
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Entries are now open for the New Zealand Workplace Health & Safety Awards for 2024. There are 9 categories for organisations and 6 categories for individuals. Entries must be submitted by 5 April. These annual awards have been run since 2005 and are organised by Safeguard with the support of WorkSafe and ACC.
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CEO of Construction Health and Safety New Zealand (CHASNZ) Chris Alderson explains how they are using funding from ACC to help make building sites safer. This includes working with trades to find ways to avoid injury, including musculoskeletal harm. Their flagship programme ‘Work Should Not Hurt’ aims to capture the collective knowledge of each of the trades to get others up to speed, such as younger workers.
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This summer, whether you are in and around water or out in the great outdoors, it’s wise to ‘Have a hmmm’ before you jump in. By being aware of the risks, then choosing to do things the right way, you can keep healthy and safe.
Check out these handy hints to help you stay injury-free this summer:
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