News – Canterbury Safety Charter – Raising Safety Standards

7 December 2021 | Newsletters

December Update

In this issue

Does green mean go?
Safety first – safety always
Cornerstone of workplace wellbeing
NAWIC – An introduction
Covid Updates
Meet Ian (PSWG) & Shane (HSL)
Mates helping Mates

Charter Update December 2021


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December ’21 Newsletter

Does Green mean go?

As the year 2021 draws to a close, I think most of us will be happy to draw a line underneath it and look for a reboot in 2022. Looking back, it is hard to describe the full range of emotions that the year has delivered, and the effect it has had on our wellbeing. For me the constant uncertainty has been the biggest hurdle, not knowing what could potentially happen and how it will play out in our communities. From a health and safety perspective, this pandemic continues to provide a context in which we can collectively examine and understand the role Governments, regulators, employers, workers, and individuals play in maintaining health and safe environments. A big part of this discussion is where we choose to draw the line on personal freedom versus public responsibility.

The sharp end of the pencil at the present time is vaccination, and the ability of Governments and employers to mandate that certain sectors of the workforce must be vaccinated in order to continue in employment in that sector. The bigger picture is the effect that these mandates will have on creating division and tension within workplaces, families and communities. The simple argument here is that vaccination is an effective form of PPE, and like the use of gloves or hard hats or eye protection it can and should be mandated to anyone who would be at risk of harm without it, or potentially harm someone else. PCBU’s have a legal obligation to create a safe working environment and take all practical steps to keep their employees and the public safe.

However, in the hierarchy of controls PPE sits at the bottom of the triangle, in that it is the least effective in managing risk. In terms of the more effective, the elimination strategy has now been put aside, we cannot replace or substitute Covid -19, so we are left with engineering and administrative controls like social distancing, work bubbles, and other PPE like masks and gloves. I get the feeling that in the Governments response, almost all of the focus is being put on vaccination, when just as much or not more emphasis is needed on the other controls, which are more effective. Using vaccination as a justification for removing social distancing requirements seems to go against the logical progression of the controls.

The second issue is around human rights, and the ability for each individual to choose what they put inside their own bodies. I respect people’s right to choose in this regard, and I do not believe that individuals who make this decision should be marginalised. However, in the context of society at large, the decision to mandate sits entirely with the Government, and that people who disagree can voice their opinion at the ballot box. The role of the Government is also to provide information and education on both sides of the vaccination debate.

As a grandfather, to recently born baby, I would do everything in my power to minimise the chance of becoming infected and reduce the possibility that I could pass the virus on to my own or anyone else’s grandchildren. This is not a logical argument, but one based entirely on emotion. I am double vaccinated, but the real question for me is whether or not I chose to go to a crowded bar without a facemask once covid is established in the South Island? At the end of the day, it is up to us as individuals to make our own decisions around our health and safety. Governments and organisations can create systems and processes and cultures, but we all chose to either buy into them or not. In this context it does matter if you scan every time you go to the supermarket, but I do not believe that everybody does.

Back to the traffic lights, and the year 2022. I was always taught to slow down and take my foot off the accelerator when approaching a controlled intersection, even if the light was green. The rationale is that most accidents occur at intersections, especially when the light changes, and it was always better to be prepared to brake. I was also told that amber means proceed only if it safe to do so, and green means go. The choice is yours.

I would like to wish all Charter members a healthy and safe holiday season. I want to thank all of our Committee and Board members for giving their time and expertise to the benefit of the community, and all those who attended our workshops or utilised our resources. Also, a big thanks to Jocelyn for keeping the wheels turning and the car on the road.

I look forward to drawing the line under 2021, and hope that 2022 provides us with more certainty and a better year. Please look after yourself and others.

Paul Duggan, General Manager

I’m not sure about the rest of you but I am looking forward to sitting somewhere with a good book and switching off from the constant barrage of emails, media and issues.

As we all look forward to a break, whatever that entails and however long that might be, it is important for us to remember the importance of friends and family, the effect that they have on our lives and the need for us to look after them and ourselves.

This is the time of year that we all have to be especially vigilant. As Christmas draws near, focus often turns to planning for the time that they have with their family and friends, and what those precious few days mean for them. Risks that are apparent in our places of work don’t tend to “wind down” as we do, and this message hopefully serves as a timely reminder that we must remain focused in the period up to and after Christmas and continue to manage our risk appropriately, and not expect our outdated risk assessments and generic risk policies to hold us in good stead.

Each of our workplaces is unique, even when looking across the businesses that we involved with or employ us. As part of our obligations under the Act, we as individuals need to ensure that we are assessing and managing risk within our own sphere of influence. Within any workplace, risks are constantly evolving due to the human influences, interactions, and an individual’s appetite for risk. This is why we must constantly review our individual circumstances to ensure that we are taking individual ownership, and not have an expectation that blanket policies imposed by others are “fit for purpose” within a particular environment. It is a timely reminder that the concept of Sites Specific Safety Plans was to understand and manage risks for the sites that we (predominantly workers) are involved with, so why do we see many of these plans not being populated or even discussed by the operatives who are ultimately exposed to the risks of that environment?

We need to all take ownership of this risk assessment and never before has it been more important than to question generic plans that have been populated by others. Ultimately it is you, the individual who has the greatest exposure, and it is therefore the individual that should be taking the time to evaluate risk before anything else. This is a culture of safety that we are ultimately looking to foster.

Christmas is usually the time when we all enjoy our summer breaks, and it is time to pick up that book or fishing rod. Whether you are undertaking maintenance works at home, getting on or in the water, travelling on our roads to discover or visit friends and family in other areas, we find ourselves exposing ourselves to risk that are not apparent in our day-to-day workplaces. We must recognise that there is risk in everything we do. In fact, one could suggest that given that you may have others in your car or boat, the consequence may be even greater. We also need to remind ourselves that the likelihood of the risk may be greater, due to the actions or inactions of others. This does not mean that we lock ourselves away and never go anywhere, my comment is to highlight the importance of the individual’s approach to risk. Be vigilant, be practical, use your experience, understand your objective and ask yourself if you could approach it in a different way, at a different time, with more appropriate equipment, with the input or assistance from those around you and promote a culture of safety for everyone to enjoy the Christmas and new year.

Safety first…. Safety always. Take care and enjoy your break

The First Aid and CPR Training Company (FACT) is a Canterbury based training provider that offers nationwide training with centers in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Rick Eisenhart, a firefighter from New York, has over 4 decades of experience in emergency services, with 16 years as a senior instructor with the Red Cross.
Rick is known for his humour, compassion and his ability to individualise courses.

Donevon Viljoen, a medic from South Africa, has been teaching First Aid for the last 13 years, and takes pride in delivering his courses in a way that ensures that all his students can learn in a fun yet conducive environment to adopt the skills of First Aid.

Both Rick and Donevon have experience in emergency services and they bring their knowledge and passion for first aid into their classrooms. FACT runs weekly first aid courses from their training room in Riccarton, Christchurch. View the training schedule here and use the code SAFETY to get 20% off any booking on one of the public courses. Group courses can be hosted either at your venue or at one of the FACT training centers. All group courses booked in December also receive a 20% discount.

Having worked in emergency services and experienced the trauma and its effects on mental health, Rick and Donevon are equally as passionate about mental health and wellbeing.

FACT offers a wellbeing program based on lived experience and co-designed with wellbeing experts and resources. The wellbeing program offers a 4-hour foundation course as well as 2-hour modular courses set on the four cornerstones of wellbeing:

Mental Wellbeing – accepting our human condition
Communication Skills – how we communicate with each other at work and at home
Workplace Bullying – workplace beasts and how to tame them
Physical Wellbeing – healthy habits for body and mind

As Paul said in the November Newsletter after attending our foundation course: “All of us have the ability to better understand and develop our emotional muscles, and the best time and place to start is here and now.”

Reach out to us if you would like to attend any of our courses to try them out. The FACT is, you can save a life!

NAWIC Canterbury

An introduction to our organisation

The National Association of Women in Construction is a voluntary, not-for-profit organisation of women who either work in the construction industry or for business organisations who provide services to the industry.

Our membership base is diverse and we are seeing significant growth in our membership numbers. NAWIC now has more than 800 members and six chapters across New Zealand! Our members includes quantity surveyors, project managers, suppliers, planners, designers, architects, engineers, tradespeople, students, apprentices, health and safety managers, lawyers and more.

The NAWIC Canterbury chapter has had a very busy 2021. Our members have enjoyed a wide range of events including site visits, speaker evenings and breakfasts. Highlights of our year include a tour of the Arts Centre Strengthening, a tour of the GIB factory, an evening trying out tools with Hilti and the inaugural Women Together in Construction Dinner hosted with Women in Roofing, to name a few. We have hosted ten in-person events and were fortunate to only experience events having to be cancelled or postponed due to COVID in the last 3months. Our members have also enjoyed the monthly webinars hosted through Switched on Learning – these were especially well attended during periods of lockdown. We also had several local members who won awards at the NAWIC Excellence awards held in Auckland in May. We thank our National and local sponsors for their continued support.

Each year we aim to cater to our diverse membership base – to connect, engage and inspire through a broad range of events. We promote networking, knowledge sharing and connection with our industry partners for the betterment of the construction industry as a whole. We are looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that 2022 will bring. A highlight on the calendar will be the NAWIC Excellence Awards to be held in July at Te Papa Museum in Wellington. They are sure to be bigger than ever! For those interested in joining or finding out more about our organisation you can visit our website:

COVID UPDATES

CHASNZ & Site Safe introduced the new COVID-19 Protection Framework for Construction

View the Protocols and
supporting resources here

Protection Framework Webinar

Watch the full webinar recording here which includes an Introduction and live Q&As

Download the latest standards document

Meet our Working Group Members

This section is a new feature where we will introduce you to members of the Health & Safety Leadership Group and Professional Services Working Group Members.

If you would like information on either of these groups please contact the Charter Administrator.

Professional Services Working Group

Ian McKenzie

Ian is a director of Dawson McKenzie Consulting, mostly working as a consultant managing commercial construction projects.

Working with other members of the Canterbury Safety Charter professional services working group in developing Safety by Design guidelines Ian has learned how to better influence clients and other consultants to apply the guidelines early in projects to produce better project results, in Ian’s case, safer buildings.

BIMSafe is another leap & Ian can foresee site safety managers using virtual reality to lead construction teams visually though daily briefings so that they can see the day’s tasks and associated risks.

Ian balances work with outdoor recreation (and the odd risk), sea kayaking, tramping and a bit of mountain climbing. Occasional Summer tenting with wife Debbie underwent a recent upgrade with purchase of a small caravan & more frequent trips at all times of year, fine weather no longer being so important, sometimes accompanied by the growing line-up of grandchildren, one at a time.

Health & Safety Leadership Group

Shane Strode-Penny

What does your job involve? I’m the Technical Specialist Construction, in the Health and Technical Services team, based in Christchurch. I provide technical expertise to develop and support the Inspectorate in their regulatory functions and give technical advice to internal and external stakeholders on all thing’s construction and the occasional agriculture question, as well as contribute to regional and national initiatives, programmes, and projects. I also provide subject matter expert advice for investigations and the team working on the Plant and Structures Regulations, alongside an amazing group of people in the Engineering and Construction, Technical team.
What’s a recent success you’ve had? Making it to my eight-year anniversary working for the regulator. But most of all being here for another year to promote men’s health during Blue September – the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s annual awareness campaign – reminding our male team members it’s time for that yearly check-up no matter your age. Many know that I failed to do this and have had an interesting four year off and on battle with prostate cancer and post-traumatic stress as a result. So, if I can get this message out to my male counterparts for another year that’s a success for me, and if I get a message like I did two years ago, where a workmate told me they found something early, both of us have had a win.
What can people come and ask you about? Anything construction-related and the odd agriculture question. If it has wheel tracks or rollers I probably know some stuff about it! I’m also known for having a large collection of guidance and documentation from all over the world.
What do you enjoy about your work? The people – both within WorkSafe and the PCBUs I interact with regularly – and being able to help when the answer is hard to find or confusing. I do love working remotely but being able to be in contact at the same time. Most of all I love the variety and the daily challenges – in eight years no two weeks have ever been the same.
What do you like to do in your free time? In my spare time I help my wife and daughter run our farm, do dad things for my other two daughters, work on my collection of classic Ford Capri’s and attend car shows and swap meets.