The Maintenance Engineering Society has highlighted it. WorkSafe NZ has been proactive in publicising it. Now the reality is hitting home as Worksafe NZ inspectors start the pilot trial of its new health and safety inspection regime in Auckland, Tauranga and Taranaki.
Already underway, the pilot inspection scheme has not taken long to start generating disquiet and alarm among manufacturers and engineers.
Inspectors are operating in targeted areas visiting sites to assess housekeeping, machinery maintenance, guarding, operator training, safe work procedures and health hazard controls.
Assessment includes a focus on hazard and risk inspection records, health surveillance and written instructions for risks, training, supervision, PPE and cleaning. The scrutiny could be equated to a tertiary ACC WSMP audit, applied virtually without warning with the risk of an infringement notice if you get it wrong.
It is not solely an inspection that business owners need to be aware of and prepared for. WorkSafe NZ’s stated intention of issuing infringement notices right from the outset without any ‘soft landing’ period sends alarm bells through small businesses who clearly called for a “more carrot less stick” approach during the consultative task force period.
While MESNZ fully supports lifting the game of health and safety in New Zealand, the approach raises some concern, with a wave of consultants forming a second front behind the inspectors, eagerly touting their wares to dumbstruck business owners.
The society has fielded calls from businesses and engineers confused by the tag team of inspectors and consultants, sometimes unsure who represents what entity.
This atmosphere of scaremongering is not constructive for NZ Inc looking for a step change in our approach to health and safety performance.
The advice to business owners is to seek a second opinion if uncomfortable with consultants’ advice, and be particularly wary of consultants providing both the problem and the solution.
So what can the business owner do to prepare and check their compliance before an inspector visits?
WorkSafe NZ has worked hard to ensure that information is available both on its website and with industry organisations such as MESNZ. You can click through to www.mesnz.org.nz/resources/health-safety/worksafe-tools/ on the MESNZ website to download WorkSafe NZ’s assessment tools on noise, airborne contaminants, machinery and workplace transport.
These draft tools are the same as the inspection staff will be using in their pilot inspections, so are the ideal place to start your own reality check.
For machinery operators, the new Best Practice Guideline for the Safe Use of Machinery is a key document accompanying the pilot inspections.
As part of its service to members, MESNZ has distributed hard copies of the guide to all of its full members. The guideline, which brings the Australian Standard AS4024 into play, will cause some angst, not only because of significantly more demanding requirements, but also the reference to site engineers having competency in AS4024. A reality check across industrial engineers has confirmed a lack of knowledge and training in both AS4024 and the new guideline and MESNZ is actively exploring roles that it can play to ensure that manufacturers can embed competencies in their operations.
Current experience suggests that internal competencies are a necessary counter to balance the advice of consultants if solutions are going to be workable, affordable and effective in the long term.
MESNZ strongly suggests that businesses talk to their peers and organisations, both in New Zealand and Australia, before reaching decisions on guarding.
Some MESNZ members confronted with over-exuberant guarding reports have sought balance, seeking a second opinion or by separating the investigation providers from the solution providers.
A list of guarding practitioners is now available on the MESNZ website. The MESNZ Guarding Practitioner list http://www.mesnz.org.nz/resources/health-safety/guard-experts/ is steadily being populated as the profile increases.
The list is open to guarding consultants, experts and solution providers, and is intended to provide a first point of reference for business operators looking for guidance or solutions on the topic.
