New Zealand Safety Council

Welcome

Topic of the Month

How Well Are You Managing Contractor Risk?

Establishing Procedures for Controlling the OSH Performance of Contractors

Many Occupational Safety & Health problems [incidents & accidents] arise from the actions/inactions of outside contractors. Contractors frequently enter company facilities to modify, renovate or maintain mobile plant, buildings or systems and to provide administration, catering, entertaining and other services.
Generally a proven rule is to say that any contractor entering your premises will raise the level of Risk Exposure for all site staff, including the contractors’.

Note: Unless using a well-proven contractor, always follow closely a formal checking and induction process. However, always document the hazard identification and risk assessment process and get contractors to countersign all documents.

Establishing Occupational Safety & Health [OSH] Standards for Contractors

Contractor Control consists of six main processes:

Evaluate previous OSH performance when selecting contractors
Incorporate OSH requirements in all tenders and contracts
Verify OSH requirements with contractors before work commences, by formal induction
Conduct inspections of worksite, contractor’s plant, equipment and work practices
Conduct Annual or Post Contract Review of all contractors
Use a Contractor's Register & Code of Behaviour to log activities

The New Zealand Safety Council’s position is that Ionisation Smoke Alarms be

BANNED FROM SALE in New Zealand

One of the major risks to everyone of us is fire at night when we are blissfully asleep.

The

NZSC SMOKE ALARM REPORT raises many serious issues, was sparked by yet another house fire involving a fatality, to Papakura pensioner Freda Birch, in June.

The vital point is that Freda had approved ionization detectors fitted by the NZ Fire Service, they did not work and Freda died. Freda could have been any one of us. In 2003 Colin Zonnerfield lost his wife and four other relatives when a horrific fire engulfed his house in Waihi. Colin slept through the creeping toxic smoke, only awakening when the fire flashed over, which was too late for the family members trapped in the basement. Similarly to Freda, Colin had approved ionization detectors fitted with fresh batteries.

Higher Fines for HSE Law Breaches

Grant Nicholson reports: In 2007 and 2008 the Department of Labour repeatedly asked judges to increase fines in health and safety cases. In December 2008 it finally succeeded. The case was Department of Labour v Hanham and Philp Contractors Ltd, and the High Court reviewed sentencing principles and directed the District Court to change the way it sentences offenders in the future.

The facts of the case are complicated, as the High Court heard three appeals together, involving three different defendents and three different accidents.

Hanham and Philp ~ At Hanham and Philp, an employe erected a wooden scaffolding structure held together by only two nails and wedged it against a wall. The next day a contractor's employee was standing on the scaffold when it slewed sideways and collapsed, causing him to fall 2.4 metres. The employee suffered a dislocated shoulder and lacerations and bruising to his face and body. He was unable to return to work for 12 months, and even then could not do his usual work as he was still in significant pain. Hanham and Philp were initially fined $5,000.

Black Reef Mine Ltd ~ Black Reef Mine operated a mine near Greymouth. The mine manager and an employee were working in an underground mineshaft when an explosive charge caused a wall to collapse and water to rush in from an adjacent flooded mine. The employee drowned, whilst the mine manager was lucky to survive. Black Reef Mine was originally fined $10,000.

Cookie Time Ltd ~ A Cookie Time employee broke her arm after catching it underneath a rolling conveyor belt. The injured employee was unable to work for three months. Cookie Time had identified the potential risk and instructed employees not to touch under the conveyor belt, but did not provide guards around it. Cooke Time was originally fined $15,000.