Newsletter: August Newsletters

One of my favourite movies of all time is “The Castle”, and anyone out there who doubts the greater cultural significance of this film should know that earlier this year I heard of an actual defence lawyer invoking “the vibe” argument on behalf of his client.

One of the more telling scenes in the movie is where young protagonist Steve is talking with his older brother Wayne, who is in jail for armed robbery. The scene goes something like this.

Wayne: How’s mum?

Steve: Good

Wayne: How’s dad?

Steve: Good

Wayne: How’s Tracey?

Steve: Good

Wayne: Good.

In my generation, ‘Good’ is the normal response to anyone asking how we are going, regardless of the reality. There is something about the kiwi attitude to life that no matter how bad things might be, we must present a brave face to the world because being “not good” can be seen as a weakness of character.

Even worse is the fact that if one of my mates broke ranks and told me that his wife has left him, his dog died, and his ute wouldn’t start, I would probably reply ‘no worries, she’ll be right’ and give him an encouraging pat on the back. To break this cycle of denial we need to look at the questions we ask each other and respond differently to the answers we generally receive.

The sobering facts about ‘goodness’ in New Zealand do not make great reading. Every week we are inundated with media reports of a mental health crisis, and the links between mental health, wellbeing and safety are well documented. In the construction industry it is even worse.

Construction has the highest rate of suicide of any industry in New Zealand. 7% of working age male suicides are from the construction sector. Workers aged 18-25 are six times more likely to die from suicide than from an accident at work. I would ask you to consider the sheer amount of resource (people, money, systems) devoted to preventing accidents, and compare it to the amount of resource devoted to preventing suicide.

There are many reasons for the increased vulnerability of construction workers. These include long working hours, less job security, the pressure to get a job done on time/budget, lack of empathy on site, reluctance to seek help, and a culture of alcohol and drug abuse. If we extrapolate back from suicide at the peak of the triangle, there is a mountain of mental health issues at the base.

The good news is that an organisation exists to tackle this problem head on. Mates in Construction has been operating in New Zealand since 2019. It is based on a program developed in Australia and running since 2008, specifically developed to reduce the high suicide rate in construction. The Mates approach is an integrated programme of awareness training and support on the work site.

The Canterbury Safety Charter is partnering with Mates in Construction to give our members the opportunity to undergo the first stage of the program, General Awareness Training (GAT). This training is designed to introduce people to the nature of the problem and provides practical guidance as to how they can help. In short, how to ask better questions, and respond differently to the answers. The details of this workshop can be found in this newsletter.

I would strongly urge all members to take advantage of this opportunity. The opportunity to learn something new, the opportunity to promote better workplace conversations and wellbeing, and the opportunity to help solve a really big problem.

Paul Duggan, General Manager

The Charter AGM on June 29 heralded the beginning of a new year, the year in which we should be able to start moving on from the Covid-19 Pandemic. But this will require some tough decisions to be made.

New Zealand has successfully taken an elimination approach to the Covid risk, which has allowed us to enjoy a relatively normal life. But other countries have struggled to contain community outbreaks and their citizens are now tired of endless lockdowns and are demanding a return to normal life even if that means they could catch Covid and die.

Democratic governments can’t ignore the will of their people and so countries like the UK are settling for a manage and minimize approach to the Covid risk – vaccinate as many people as they can and hope the public health system can cope with remaining infections. But this means that the Covid-19 virus is going to be out there for some time to come.

New Zealand cannot keep our tight border controls in place forever. At some point we will want to rejoin the global community. We need the income from our tourist industry and many of our citizens and residents need and want to be free to travel without having to spend an expensive 2 weeks in MIQ on their return. Some tough decisions indeed.

Many of you are faced with similarly tough decisions when it comes to health and safety in your workplace. It’s never black and white when it comes to risk management. It’s a judgement call how serious the risk is and then another judgement call whether you go all out to eliminate the risk or just try to minimize and manage it.

But when you and your workforces have different opinions, it becomes near impossible to achieve your health and safety objectives, which is why worker engagement is so important. The ‘team of 5 million’ was critical to New Zealand eliminating Covid. Having all your people on board and helping you with your health and safety plan is equally important.

Your workplace culture is key. Those who braved the frigid conditions to attend the AGM heard some great words of wisdom from Dr. David Williams on how to progressively develop a culture that not only enables great health and safety outcomes but also drives great productivity and quality as well.

Two takeaways for me from David’s presentation were, firstly, that changing culture is never a linear, always moving forward, process. It always involves some setbacks, taking two steps forward but then one step back, and so it is a process that requires determination and perseverance. Secondly, the last of the five stages of cultural development requires business owners and managers to take a backseat and trust the frontline workers to own and lead their health and safety processes. That will require courage. But wouldn’t it be great!

At the AGM we also welcomed two new board members, Robert Stewart and Liam Nolan. Robert and Liam will both bring a lot of experience and a different perspective to the table and I am looking forward to their contribution to Charter governance.

It is not just the board members that make a valuable contribution to the charter. Our working groups are at the heart of what we do and are always ready to welcome new recruits and the new ideas they bring. More hands also make lighter work, so if you can help out, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Paul or Jocelyn.

Last but not least, the Charter exists, first and foremost, to support its members on their health and safety journey. Key to this are the 10 Commitments we all signed up to when we joined the charter. When was the last time you checked how you were doing against those? Now might be a good time. The members area of our website can help you with that.

Please also make the most of the events and workshops we will be holding during the year. These are not just a way of getting some value from your membership fees but they are also a great opportunity to catch up with your peers in the industry.

Be safe, be kind and look after yourselves and your mates.

Ian Campbell, Board Chair

According to the latest New Zealand Health and Safety at Work strategy document, musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are the largest contributor to workplace loss time injuries greater than one week. In 2018, 9% of all workers reported pain affecting muscles, joints, and nerves, up from 7% in 2008. However, the most telling statistic is called the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYS). This is a measure of the number of years of healthy life lost due to workplace harm.

Of the 45,000 DALYs lost each year to all workers in New Zealand, 13,500 (27%) are due to MSD’s. By comparison, mental ill health accounts for 17%, respiratory illness 16%, and cancer 15%. The most common event type that results in a MSD are lifting and carrying objects. Construction, agriculture, transport, and warehousing have comparatively high incidence rates of MSD.

CHASNZ with support from ACC are starting a project to reduce the incidence of MSD in the construction industry. Chris Poluczak will be giving a presentation on this initiative at our August 25^th workshop. www.safetycharter.org.nz/events

This workshop will feature General Awareness Training provided by mates in Construction. Hear the “Mates” story, and learn how to have better workplace conversations concerning mental health. Construction has the highest incidence of suicide than any other industry. Come along and be part of the solution to this major problem

Chris Polaczuk from CHASNZ will also give a presentation on musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). These injuries are the largest contributor to workplace loss time injuries, and also long term health outcomes. Chris will provide a framework for a range of initiatives to address this issue in the construction industry.