The Government announced a new visa to facilitate the availability of specialist migrant workers to help in the recovery efforts following Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent weather events in the North Island The Recovery Visa (a Specific Purpose Work Visa), will allow employers to sponsor migrants to come to New Zealand for a specific event or purpose, including working on an emergency response. Continue →

WorkSafe has released a draft fact sheet on the safe use of containers at worksites and is looking for feedback Containers are often used at worksites as temporary structures for things like additional storage, site offices, and containment areas, WorkSafe says. Continue →

This year has been earmarked as one of significant cyber risk to organisations, NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says The covid pandemic provided cyber criminals with a fertile ground to execute scams and reap the riches. Continue →

Recent flooding has highlighted the need for businesses and organisations to manage risks to make sure working conditions are safe, WorkSafe says Workers have a right to be kept safe and healthy, whether they are involved in cleaning up or clocking on for a shift. Continue →

Forty years ago you might have found your first gig and then stayed there for your entire career, but times are changing and we’ve started to see stints of two to four years become much more common, SJS finds For gen-z, the average time spent in a job is just two years, while for millennials we’re looking at about four. Continue →

Workshops are bringing attention to the 125+ fatigue sleep events occur daily on NZ roads The Eyes Up NZ workshops are being delivered by vehicle safety and training provider AutoSense, who have analysed the data of 4,600 cameras installed in heavy and light vehicles on New Zealand roads and confirmed 125 verified fatigue sleep events occur while driving every day. Continue →

After two years of real-world testing to prove its safety credentials, a truck which automatically deploys traffic cones has been launched in Melbourne, Australia The truck’s inventor, Arrowes, joined with key stakeholders, including the Victorian Government and major infrastructure construction companies, to launch the truck at Holmesglen Institute’s Victorian Tunnelling Centre which is training road construction workers to operate the new truck. Continue →

The Fair Pay Agreements (FPA) Bill has been passed into law, with the new system of employment bargaining to take effect on 1 December The Fair Pay Agreements system brings together unions and employer associations within a sector to bargain for minimum employment terms for all covered employees in an industry or occupation. Continue →

Industrial workplaces can be hazardous environments with various potential health and safety risks – managers must ensure employees are aware of the dangers and take precautions to minimize these risks Working in an industrial setting comes with a certain amount of risk. Continue →

While it might feel like a potential problem, quiet quitting is also an excellent opportunity Quiet quitting is where an employee does the role they’re required to do, but nothing more (that means no overtime or other extras). Continue →

Introverts and extroverts have different personalities, meaning they’ll inevitably have different needs for their workspace Ebuyer has teamed up with Myers-Brigg Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) Practitioner Shauna Skinner to consult on the best set-up for each personality type. Continue →

It is becoming more common for machine operators to work shifts well into the night to meet their clients’ demands, but such 24/7 service puts immense pressure on hydraulic systems, Hydraulink Fluid Connectors Ltd Chief Executive Robin Simpson says Heavier workloads for earthmovers, miners, construction and infrastructure, and transport operators are putting the strain on the hydraulic systems of static and mobile machinery essential to their tasks, including graders, diggers, trucks, forklifts, forest and agricultural harvesters, road and rail maintenance equipment, and fixed and mobile cranes. Continue →

Remote working has unique challenges that are different from working on site, so how do you manage it? Continue →

Four employees who were terminated by the management of a large oil and gas company in Taranaki have been awarded almost $280,000 in lost wages, reimbursements and compensation by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) In a determination released mid-May, the ERA found the oil and gas company guilty of breaching good faith as an employer, after it made the four employees redundant “out of blue” after it claimed it was in a dire financial position due to falling oil prices and the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in 2020. Continue →

A civil infrastructure company has turned to the Internet of Things (IoT) to help monitor levels of noise, dust and vibration in real time that until recently, required on-site manual testing Construction teams can find it challenging to monitor the levels of noise, dust and vibration produced in real time on worksites. Continue →

An unfortunate side-effect of a technology or a product becoming successful in today’s world are the cyberattacks that follow, IoT Alliance executive director Alison Mackie says Cyberattacks are increasing globally and in New Zealand every year. Continue →

The forestry industry is broken – or at least it was, before the establishment of the Forestry Industry Safety Council (FISC). Continue →

Even where a worker does something ‘stupid’, legislation would still expect the business has identified that ‘act of stupidity’ as a risk and therefore placed suitable controls around it, just as with any other risks identified, Health and Safety Consultant Jason Shepherdson explains Where Critical Risks are concerned, the obligations stay with the Person(s) Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) that controls the risk. Continue →

An employer’s right to discipline staff in breach of their employment agreement is now in question after a ruling from the Employment Relations Authority In October 2020, Inland Revenue employee Renee Andrews viewed a client’s confidential information without authorisation and disclosed it to colleagues. Continue →

Information from a construction industry survey will help reduce accidents and injuries on construction sites Construction accounts for 10% of the national workforce, but 15% of all ACC claims. Continue →