Congratulating the winners of the Workplace Health and Safety Awards
Celebrating excellence in the prevention of workplace injuries and ill-health.
Many of the best health and safety leaders and initiatives in the country have again been recognised at Safeguard 2021 – the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards.
Proudly supported by ACC and WorkSafe New Zealand, the awards were presented at a gala dinner at the Cordis in Auckland this week.
This year’s award winners
We sponsored the Best Leadership of an Industry Sector or Region category and were joint sponsors, with WorkSafe New Zealand, of the Supreme Award for Best Overall Contribution to Improving Workplace Health and Safety in New Zealand.
The Observer Fisheries group within Fisheries New Zealand claimed the overall honours.
Peter Bateman, convenor of the judging panel and editor of Safeguard, says key changes to the way healthy and safety issues are reported has made Fisheries New Zealand a leader in this area.
“Observers are isolated for weeks at sea in a high-risk working environment,” he says.
“Their previous fixed-term, trip-based employment worked against the open sharing of health and safety incidents and concerns.
“A change to a collective agreement with an on-going employment relationship has removed the structural disincentive to report, something other industries could learn from.”
The ACC Best Leadership of an Industry Sector or Region category was meanwhile won by Government Health and Safety Lead, who edged out fellow finalists Forest Industry Safety Council and GEA NZ.
This award is presented to an organisation whose initiative and leadership has helped lift workplace health and safety standards in its industry sector, geographic region or nationally.
The judging panel felt the Government Health and Safety Lead’s intern programme across the public sector is doing much to address a critical issue.
Many young people are being introduced to health and safety who may never have considered it as a career.
Of the 59 interns to date, 44% are now working in healthy and safety roles.
More information about the awards
Congratulations to all the winners and award nominees. For more about the awards and recipients head to the Safeguard website:
Safeguard 2021 - the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards