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Lessons from a Crisis
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Lessons from a crisis?
The first Safety Charter workshop of the year is coming up on the 28th August, with the relevant topic of Crisis Management. This event is designed to get organisations thinking about how they plan for unforeseen events, and how much engagement they have with all levels of the organisation in the process. Are the lessons from Covid-19 crisis going to help us be prepared for the next one?
Health and Safety is too often seen as a top down, management driven, paperwork led process for holding workers accountable for health and Safety. Should it be a bottom up, worker led, culture driven process for holding management accountable? Or to put it simply, have you engaged your workers and HSR’s in the review of your Covid-19 response, and who led the process?
This has got me thinking about previous disaster events with a Health and Safety perspective, and how much the lessons from these events have projected forward. What prompted this line of thought was a radio news story which indicated that a very large number of investigators were forensically examining every detail of the Whakaari/White Island incident, with the idea of fully understanding what happened and why.
And I get this. I get the need to retrospectively examine every incident and to discover the why’s and who’s and how’s. But here is the rub. The lessons from Cave Creek did not prevent Pike River, and the lessons from Pike River did not prevent Whakaari/White Island. If we spend too much of our time being reactive, do we spent less time being proactive?
The American Health and Safety Consultant Todd Conklin talks about safety not being the absence of accidents, but the presence of capacity. He believes that our time is better spent building capacity and capability rather than eliminating risk. Capacity does not necessarily mean more PPE or policies. It can also include an organisations ability to communicate effectively, and their capacity to learn and change quickly.
The Health and Safety industry is in a very important position in this current crisis, and we as a community have the opportunity to drive effective change as part of our collective response. This workshop will help any organisation that wants to think about how they respond to any health and safety challenge, and how to engage with workers and HSR’s in the process.
Paul Duggan
General Manager
paulduggan@safetycharter.org.nz |
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At our last meeting Rob Sloan formally stood down as Board Chair and I was elected as the new Board Chair. I am humbled by the honour but know it will be a challenge to maintain the standard of leadership that Rob, and Graham Darlow before him, have provided the Safety Charter.
These are challenging times for everyone as the resilience of the Canterbury community is being tested, yet again, by our 3rd major crisis in 10 years.
The old saying is true, ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. We are a strong community but what gives me the most pride is that we are also a very caring community. The way in which we embraced social distancing, better hygiene and contact tracing during the Covid-19 crisis showed yet again how much we care, not just for our own family, friends and workmates, but for their friends and family as well.
A crisis like this brings out the best in people but can also be a catalyst for positive change, if we let it. As the first truly global pandemic in our lifetime it has given us all a lot to think about and good lessons to learn. The hard part now is to lock in those lessons and keep doing things differently and better after the Pandemic is over – not fall back into the same old not-so-good habits.
Good hygiene and social distancing when we are not well will also reduce the amount of flu and other ‘normal’ illnesses in our community. Actively encouraging people to stay at home when they’re sick will continue to do a lot to keep us healthier and safer at work in future.
Of course, although Covid-19 seems to be under control in New Zealand, we shouldn’t be thinking it’s all over just yet. Not everyone overseas has a responsible government prepared to make the hard decisions and the global Covid-19 daily death rate continues to rise. We can’t afford to relax just yet.
The Pandemic has not just affected our health and well-being. There have been some serious commercial impacts for our business community. For construction in our region, this has come on top of what were already tough times after the earthquake rebuild wound down.
This is another good reason for locking in those better health and wellbeing practices because, as we all know, a safe and healthy workforce is also a more productive workforce.
The Charter is working hard to learn from our experiences to deliver more value to our members and our community. We too need to move on from the rebuild, understand how the industry is changing and adapt to provide what will most help you to stay healthy and safe in 2020.
Like you all, the Charter had to put a few things on hold during lockdown but we are now getting right into our 2020 work programme. I encourage you all to take full advantage of the workshops and events we will be holding over the next 6 months. We have some great topics to discuss and these are also a great opportunity to catch up and share experiences with other people in the industry.
If you think there is something more we could or should be doing please do not hesitate to contact myself, one of the other Board members or our General Manager Paul Duggan.
Ian Campbell
Chairperson
Canterbury Safety Charter
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| Workplace Injury Prevention subsidy |
| If your business is working in construction and has 6 to 99 employees, you might be eligible for a workplace injury prevention subsidy to help pay for health and safety training. |
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| HASANZ Scholarship applications NOW OPEN |
Scholarships towards tertiary qualifications in workplace health and safety are presented annually by HASANZ. Applications are welcome from health and safety practitioners who want to develop their career and take their skills to the next level.
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| NEW Weathering the Storm Video |
| The team at Clyne and Bennie feature in the 3rd Weathering the Storm Covid series. |
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| Charter Workshop: What If…. Planning for the next crisis |
| Workshop all about crisis management and how to build a resilient organisation from the bottom up. |
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| Fly the Flag for suicide prevention |
| The MATES flag is a visual reminder to stop and take a moment to re-commit to being a mate who will look out for a mate. |
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| Meet the Charter Board Members |
| Meet the newest members of the Charter Board |
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| Charter Events and Workshops |
Mark the dates below in your calendar for the upcoming Charter workshops and event.
If you would like the information sent to anyone else please send an email to the Charter Administrator info@safetycharter.org.nz |
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| 'What if….' Planning for the next crisis. |
A Health & Safety Representative Breakfast workshop 6.30am – 8.30am
Registrations can be made via the Charter website: |
| Location: The Tannery, 3 Garlands Road |
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| THURSDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2020 |
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| "Questions you are too afraid to ask" Discussion panel with health and safety leaders |
| A Health and Safety Leaders Networking Event. 5.30pm – 8.00pm |
| Location: The Tannery, 3 Garlands Road |
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| "Still under construction" 5-yeas on from the HSW Act |
| A Health & Safety Representative Breakfast workshop 6.30am – 8.30am |
| Location: The Tannery, 3 Garlands Road |
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