Newsletter: November Newsletter

I recently attended a wellbeing workshop provided by Rick and Donovan at the First Aid and CPR Training company, and would like to share what I learnt. We all intuitively know that physical and mental wellbeing are closely tied to one another, and often referred to as the mind-body connection. The link between our physical state and our emotional state is well known and understood. When we feel physically fine, we can better handle the emotional ups and downs of our days. However, if we lack sleep, or hydration, or exercise, this can affect our mood considerably. The reverse is also true, but less well understood. Poor emotional wellbeing can contribute to physical illness. Stress, anxiety, and other emotions can lead to high blood pressure, ulcers, headaches, insomnia etc.

If we accept that the above is fundamentally true, why do we treat physical wellbeing substantially differently than we treat mental wellbeing? Ask yourself the following question. If a friend asked you for advice on how to improve their physical wellbeing, how would you respond? I believe that most of us could quickly come up with a list. Eat healthier foods, avoid sugar and alcohol, get more exercise, and a good nights sleep. But what if a friend asked how they could improve their mental wellbeing, I think most of us might struggle to give an answer. Think of these comparisons.

If you suffer a physical injury at work or at play, we have the benefits of a fully funded recovery program at our disposal, which in the construction industry alone accounts for $158 million annually. The country spends only a tiny fraction on mental wellbeing, and the demand is overwhelming the limited resources that are available. We have thousands of people (health and safety reps, managers, advisors) who are paid to prevent workplace accidents and avoid physical injuries. What percentage of their time is devoted to avoiding mental accidents and injuries?

Physical Education is taught in schools from an early age, and most children are actively encouraged to play sport by their parents, teachers, and peer group. But how many emotional wellbeing lessons did you get at school, or mental wellbeing teams did you join? Currently I cannot I drive 5km without seeing a new 24 hour gym in every location possible, but I see very few 24 hour mental wellbeing centres opening up, where you can come along and build up your “emotional muscles”.

Fortunately the tide is beginning to change, and organisations are becoming much more aware of mental wellbeing and how to help individuals in the workplace. There are five fundamental mental exercises we all can do to improve our daily lives, build resilience, and lower the risk of developing mental health problems.

1. Connect: Work on building and strengthening our relationships with others. Talk less and listen more
2. Give: Carry out small acts of kindness, without seeking reward for your actions
3. Be Active: Become more physically active, do what you can, and enjoy what you do
4. Take notice: Pay attention to the present moment, both your thoughts and feelings, and be aware of your emotional state and how to regulate it.
5. Keep learning: Embrace new opportunities and challenges.

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.

If you would like to take a step in this journey, come along to the Charter workshop on the 17^th, where Mates in Construction will help you to better connect with others in the workplace, and Chris from CHASNZ will help you to be active for longer.

Paul Duggan, General Manager

The BIMSafe NZ Project launch event was held last Friday at the Tait Technology Centre. The Safety Charter’s Professional Services Working Group is collaborating with the University of Canterbury’s Building Innovation Partnership to deliver the three-year $1.7 million project funded by ACC and MBIE. The project aims to reduce accident and injury rates on Construction sites by integrating health and safety information into BIM Models.

BIMSafe NZ Advisory and Steering Group Members along with Ngai Tahu representative. 

Back Row:  James Jackson, Ngai Tahu; Lindsay Crossen; Ian Campbell;  Larry Bellamy; Kevin Hughes; Simon O’Brien; Paul Duggan.

Front Row: Brad Sara; Gerry Sullivan; Anna Harrison; Greg Preston; Matt Harris. 

Absent: Dan Jones, David Robotham, Ian McKenzie, Kristin Hoskin, Mayank Tripathi, Robert Amor and Chris Alderson.

The BIM model allows all project stakeholders, designers, engineers, contractors, H&S managers, and even maintenance staff to collaborate on the health and safety by design process within the digital 3D space, before construction has even begun. This information is then carried through from design to construction to maintenance and then decommission.

The first stage of the project is to develop “Best Practice Guidelines” for the industry. These will be written by a group of industry experts and published in 2024. The guidelines will be trialled during the Construction of the new ACC building in Dunedin, which is being designed by Warren and Mahoney for a Joint Venture between Ngai-Tahu Property and the ACC Investment Fund.

The project will also investigate how workers on site can best access the health and safety information within the model, and then use this information to make real time decisions during their work. The BIM models allows 3D visualisation of the work they are conducting, rather than a 2D plan. This is a much more effective educational tool and will allow better decisions to be made around construction risks.

The launch started with Advisory Group members Brad Sara (Warren and Mahoney), and Kevin Hughes (BuildBIM) introducing the project and explaining why BIM models are very effective tools for risk identification, mitigation and communication. They allow for high levels of planning for hazardous work, traffic and site management, access and exclusion zones, and then this information can be stored as a single “source of truth”

Professor Larry Bellamy (UC) then spoke how the BIMSafe NZ Project fits into the broader picture of the digitisation of the New Zealand construction Industry. The Building Innovation partnership is an 8-year $12.5 million programme to improve infrastructure planning and design, enable integrated design, construction and operation, and to improve the resilience and sustainability of facilities.

James Jackson from Ngai-Tahu Property then spoke on the project from a client perspective, and how the outcomes align with the values of their organisation. James was enthusiastic about how the project will improve health and safety on their site and enable greater collaboration and communication with all involved.

The last speaker was Virginia Burton-Konia, from the ACC Injury Prevention team. Virginia spoke of the reasons why ACC are supportive and enthusiastic about the project. The first reason is that it targets the construction Industry, which has a significant number of accidents and injuries. The second reason was the collaborative approach of the project and using our collective strengths to affect change. The third reason was that the project involves the use of innovation and technology to enable better outcomes in the real world.

The Charter will update the industry on the progress over the next three years. Watch this space

I recently attended a wellbeing workshop provided by Rick and Donovan at the First Aid and CPR Training company, and would like to share what I learnt. We all intuitively know that physical and mental wellbeing are closely tied to one another, and often referred to as the mind-body connection. The link between our physical state and our emotional state is well known and understood. When we feel physically fine, we can better handle the emotional ups and downs of our days. However, if we lack sleep, or hydration, or exercise, this can affect our mood considerably. The reverse is also true, but less well understood. Poor emotional wellbeing can contribute to physical illness. Stress, anxiety, and other emotions can lead to high blood pressure, ulcers, headaches, insomnia etc.

If we accept that the above is fundamentally true, why do we treat physical wellbeing substantially differently than we treat mental wellbeing? Ask yourself the following question. If a friend asked you for advice on how to improve their physical wellbeing, how would you respond? I believe that most of us could quickly come up with a list. Eat healthier foods, avoid sugar and alcohol, get more exercise, and a good nights sleep. But what if a friend asked how they could improve their mental wellbeing, I think most of us might struggle to give an answer. Think of these comparisons.

If you suffer a physical injury at work or at play, we have the benefits of a fully funded recovery program at our disposal, which in the construction industry alone accounts for $158 million annually. The country spends only a tiny fraction on mental wellbeing, and the demand is overwhelming the limited resources that are available. We have thousands of people (health and safety reps, managers, advisors) who are paid to prevent workplace accidents and avoid physical injuries. What percentage of their time is devoted to avoiding mental accidents and injuries?

Physical Education is taught in schools from an early age, and most children are actively encouraged to play sport by their parents, teachers, and peer group. But how many emotional wellbeing lessons did you get at school, or mental wellbeing teams did you join? Currently I cannot I drive 5km without seeing a new 24 hour gym in every location possible, but I see very few 24 hour mental wellbeing centres opening up, where you can come along and build up your “emotional muscles”.

Fortunately the tide is beginning to change, and organisations are becoming much more aware of mental wellbeing and how to help individuals in the workplace. There are five fundamental mental exercises we all can do to improve our daily lives, build resilience, and lower the risk of developing mental health problems.

1. Connect: Work on building and strengthening our relationships with others. Talk less and listen more
2. Give: Carry out small acts of kindness, without seeking reward for your actions
3. Be Active: Become more physically active, do what you can, and enjoy what you do
4. Take notice: Pay attention to the present moment, both your thoughts and feelings, and be aware of your emotional state and how to regulate it.
5. Keep learning: Embrace new opportunities and challenges.

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.

If you would like to take a step in this journey, come along to the Charter workshop on the 17^th, where Mates in Construction will help you to better connect with others in the workplace, and Chris from CHASNZ will help you to be active for longer.

Paul Duggan, General Manager

The BIMSafe NZ Project launch event was held last Friday at the Tait Technology Centre. The Safety Charter’s Professional Services Working Group is collaborating with the University of Canterbury’s Building Innovation Partnership to deliver the three-year $1.7 million project funded by ACC and MBIE. The project aims to reduce accident and injury rates on Construction sites by integrating health and safety information into BIM Models.

BIMSafe NZ Advisory and Steering Group Members along with Ngai Tahu representative. 

Back Row:  James Jackson, Ngai Tahu; Lindsay Crossen; Ian Campbell;  Larry Bellamy; Kevin Hughes; Simon O’Brien; Paul Duggan.

Front Row: Brad Sara; Gerry Sullivan; Anna Harrison; Greg Preston; Matt Harris. 

Absent: Dan Jones, David Robotham, Ian McKenzie, Kristin Hoskin, Mayank Tripathi, Robert Amor and Chris Alderson.

The BIM model allows all project stakeholders, designers, engineers, contractors, H&S managers, and even maintenance staff to collaborate on the health and safety by design process within the digital 3D space, before construction has even begun. This information is then carried through from design to construction to maintenance and then decommission.

The first stage of the project is to develop “Best Practice Guidelines” for the industry. These will be written by a group of industry experts and published in 2024. The guidelines will be trialled during the Construction of the new ACC building in Dunedin, which is being designed by Warren and Mahoney for a Joint Venture between Ngai-Tahu Property and the ACC Investment Fund.

The project will also investigate how workers on site can best access the health and safety information within the model, and then use this information to make real time decisions during their work. The BIM models allows 3D visualisation of the work they are conducting, rather than a 2D plan. This is a much more effective educational tool and will allow better decisions to be made around construction risks.

The launch started with Advisory Group members Brad Sara (Warren and Mahoney), and Kevin Hughes (BuildBIM) introducing the project and explaining why BIM models are very effective tools for risk identification, mitigation and communication. They allow for high levels of planning for hazardous work, traffic and site management, access and exclusion zones, and then this information can be stored as a single “source of truth”

Professor Larry Bellamy (UC) then spoke how the BIMSafe NZ Project fits into the broader picture of the digitisation of the New Zealand construction Industry. The Building Innovation partnership is an 8-year $12.5 million programme to improve infrastructure planning and design, enable integrated design, construction and operation, and to improve the resilience and sustainability of facilities.

James Jackson from Ngai-Tahu Property then spoke on the project from a client perspective, and how the outcomes align with the values of their organisation. James was enthusiastic about how the project will improve health and safety on their site and enable greater collaboration and communication with all involved.

The last speaker was Virginia Burton-Konia, from the ACC Injury Prevention team. Virginia spoke of the reasons why ACC are supportive and enthusiastic about the project. The first reason is that it targets the construction Industry, which has a significant number of accidents and injuries. The second reason was the collaborative approach of the project and using our collective strengths to affect change. The third reason was that the project involves the use of innovation and technology to enable better outcomes in the real world.

The Charter will update the industry on the progress over the next three years. Watch this space