I am doing a presentation to a group of business people shortly around planning for Health & Safety risks and what implementing a Health & Safety Plan is about.

One of the things I have done is to get out to the WorkSafe website and see what they say on the subject. It is pretty good!

Their around the block tool is a handy, easy interface to the site for those who want to dig at specific examples of what relates to their business.

What has surprised me is when we start digging into the operation of a business we uncover some significant hazards that need attention. This applies to the simple office situation, home or otherwise.

The sort of hazards that we automatically adapt to because we are familiar with the environment. Take someone not so familiar, and there’s the problem, they do not know, and they get hurt.

So what did I find on the WorkSafe site?

There’s a section specifically on the health & safety related cases that have been put before the courts. It is a lengthy list of 243 cases, when I wrote this, dating back to 2013.

38 of these cases have been before the courts since the 4th of April when the new law came into effect. Though most of them will be prosecutions under the old act rather than the new act.

However, there is a substantial subset of the 243 that apply to us who consider ourselves relatively low risk.

I will run through the ones I found here:

High ropes course http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/waikato-institute-of-technology

Tutor in a dangerous position http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2015/waiariki-institute-of-technology

Employee at a recreation facility http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/snowplanet-limited

Diving and water sports http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2016/cathedral-cove-dive-limited

Onsite mechanic http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2016/john-austin-limited

Process worker food services http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/tegel-foods-limited

Spills http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/ruapehu-alpine-lifts

Online retail trading http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2015/1-day-limited

Church with adventure facilities http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2015/seventh-day-adventist-church-property-trustees-nz-limited

Recreation services http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/riverland-adventures-limited 

Ill-advised actions and lack of checks http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/woods-contracting-services-limited

Managing access and disturbing an accident scene http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2016/christopher-graham-angus

Unauthorised work http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2015/larry-stewart-warner-ta-crewcut-timaru

Online retail trading http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/grabone-limited

Caught in moving equipment http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/foley-family-wines-limited

Retail trading http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/zolo-limited & http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2015/kmall-limited

Retail trading http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2015/the-will-development-ltd

Separation of hazards http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2015/blastacars-hamilton-limited

Checking work http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/corona-electrical-limited-amended-from-richard-meiklejohn

Asbestos http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2014/peter-john-page

Hazard identification and continued checks http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2015/general-distributors-limited

Access control http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2016/waipa-workingmens-club-incorporated

Briefing and understanding http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe/about/prosecutions/court-summaries/2016/russell-william-cochrane

What you need to consider

While these are not exactly office environments they have created harm, avoidable harm if the appropriate controls are in place. 

What I take from this is the level of harm in an office environment may not be as significant. The personal impact risk may be disabling for a time rather than serious or life-threatening. The reality is even a simple fall can become a notifiable injury.

A recent situation

An example of this is an older worker walking through a walkway that wasn't clear, tripped, broke her kneecap in the process. She's unlikely to walk normally again as a result. This resulted in a notifiable injury and WorkSafe are now crawling all over the business.

This has put the business in a position of a potentially significant fine and possibly will challenge their ability to trade. The inconvenience alone is impacting the business. 

This business did not have an active Health & Safety plan or policy and as a result the impact from WorkSafe is far more significant and they are paying much closer attention to the business.

Likely resulting in more compliance than if they had implemented a suitable plan and avoided the injury int he first place. The penalty for hurting workers is getting more significant.

Immediate actions

Suitable controls and simple inspections can prevent a fall that saves someone from taking a few days off work. This could be just as big an impact, or worse, than implementing some simple checks.

However, as we have seen in the situation of supply of goods and services, it is possible to cause significant harm to others. Increased electric shock and fire risk being the big ones identified in the list above.

As it is Christmas time, you will be dusting off the Christmas tree and the lights and decorations. Please make sure you check them out and ensure they are safe to use. There has been more than one fire started from a Christmas tree in the past. 

We can help!

If you need help with understanding what your obligations are and what you need to do about them, give us a call. We have a number of approaches that can assist.