SafePlus, a new Government developed and endorsed health and safety toolkit, is now available to all New Zealand businesses.
SafePlus currently consists of three products: Resources and Guidance, the market delivered Onsite Assessment and Advisory Service and the Online Self-Assessment.
The SafePlus Resources and Guidance explains the toolkit’s 10 health and safety performance requirements, and provides guidance to help illustrate what these look like in practice in a business.
The Onsite Assessment and Advisory Service uses a behavioural based evaluative assessment approach to measure a business’s performance and provide fresh, independent, expert insights and advice.
Independent accredited private market SafePlus assessors can visit businesses and assess how well it is performing against the SafePlus performance requirements and provide advice and best practice guidance on how to improve.
“New Zealand has an unnecessarily high rate of serious workplace accidents. The social and economic cost of this in New Zealand workplaces is conservatively estimated at $3.5 billion each year, and inflicts an enormous emotional toll on the people affected,” says Malcolm MacMillan, SafePlus Programme Manager.
“We need a change in our workplace health and safety culture and SafePlus provides an important toolkit to achieve that change.
“SafePlus digs deep into a business to assess workers practices, behaviours, attitudes and culture towards health and safety, this behavioural approach helps them identify opportunities and strive for excellence,” Mr MacMillan says.
The launch of the Onsite Assessment and Advisory Service includes the SafePlus Register of Independent Accredited Assessors so businesses will now be able to directly engage with assessors.
The Accredited Assessors have been trained to deliver SafePlus and carry sector specific and generalist experience. This public register can be found www.safeplus.nz.
“SafePlus Accredited Assessors are an essential component of the SafePlus initiative. The services they provide during an Onsite Assessment and Advisory Service will change the way businesses view their health and safety in the workplace,” Mr MacMillan says,
“Accredited Assessors use an approach that focuses on the people and their practices rather than written policies and procedures.
“They engage at all levels of a business, from senior leaders to front line workers, then use these insights to measure a business’s health and safety performance, and provide them with advice and guidance.”
The SafePlus Online Self-Assessment tool will be available in the middle of 2018.
The first version of this tool is being designed for small to medium sized businesses, with further development planned to tailor the tool for larger and/or higher risk sectors.
About the programme
SafePlus is a voluntary performance improvement toolkit that defines what good health and safety looks like in the workplace, and sits above minimum legal compliance.
It is a joint harm prevention initiative developed by WorkSafe New Zealand, ACC and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
SafePlus has been developed in direct response to the Independent Taskforce into Health and Safety, and the Working Safer Reforms.
Working Safer is aimed at reducing New Zealand’s workplace injury and death toll by 25 pe cent by 2020.
More information safeplus.nz
