Health and Safety stories
Workers in New Zealand may still be inhaling harmful dust unless they are clean shaven enough for respiratory protective equipment to seal properly.
Outdated crane procedures left a Hawke’s Bay steel cutter facing GBP £370,000 in fines, reparations and costs after a worker lost a leg.
Poor communication, unrealistic deadlines and weak coordination are fuelling stress on New Zealand construction sites, a study finds.
Practical changes lifted Sign Foundry to SiteWise Green accreditation, improving safety compliance and winning it a competitive edge for contracts.
Hundreds of Southbase Construction staff have gained digital badges as standardised micro-learning helps lift consistency, safety and promotion prospects.
Construction firms are cutting call-outs and speeding up onboarding as wearable, cloud-based mentoring puts expert guidance on site in real time.
Contractors may need tighter privacy policies as new rules on sign-in sheets, breaches and offshore data transfers raise compliance risks.
Importers and manufacturers face four years to relabel chemicals as New Zealand shifts hazardous substances rules to the UN-backed GHS.
Short, informal safety briefings can cut workplace risks, keep staff up to date and help prevent injuries and downtime.
A flooring firm has been fined USD $60,000 after a worker died using solvent-based adhesive without proper risk checks or ventilation.
COVID-19 has pushed non-occupational disease to the top of the list, as businesses face rising cyber, health and climate risks.
No further eye injuries have been reported at a Christchurch factory after staff helped choose PPE they were willing to wear.
Unsafe ground was behind five excavator tip-overs in 18 months, prompting warnings that operators can face fatal falls near edges and culverts.
Smart PPE that stores vital data on the gear itself will help speed emergency response for construction and industrial workers.
Workplace cuts and crush injuries can be reduced by simple precautions, saving firms costly downtime and staff from painful hand damage.
A company’s ignored maintenance warnings ended in a fatal three-metre fall and a GBP £279,000 fine for unsafe trailer edge protection.
A workplace knife slip can still cut legs and arms, prompting safety managers to pair gloves with safer tools and training.
Power was cut to a neighbourhood in Auckland’s CBD after a worker struck an 11kv cable, exposing gaps in permit-to-dig checks.
The closure delayed freight for nearly 24 hours after a truck struck a Taihape rail bridge, with 11 trains cancelled and costs to be recovered.
Regular reminders can cut preventable injuries in manufacturing, from machine guards and PPE to fire drills and fall protection.
