Introduction
Fundamentally I believe that WorkSafe’s 10
year plan is a strong and positive step forward and will help New Zealand
organisations manage health risks better to ultimately reduce them. I believe it will help managers to better
understand and define the shared responsibilities that come with managing
health risks – particularly with the worker is the risk themselves in the case
of Fatigue and Stress. Within my
workplace I am encouraged by the strategy as I can see good alignment between Z
Energy’s approach the managing health and wellbeing and key points in the
WorkSafe plan.
In my opinion it’s a good step forward but
I also think it’s only one step forward and there is more work to do. This article shares some of my thoughts on
the WorkSafe 10 year strategy from an industry perspective and particularly the
use of the Health on Work model and risk focus hierarchy.
The
Health on Work Model
I like the Health on Work model. It aligns to the pillars of the Z programme
whereby we’re committed to Our People being Protected, Supported, Resilient and
Energised.
How we implement this in practice at Z
With the systems focus we consider how our
overall operational risks management system.
We don't prioritise either or, instead we identify our objectives and
then aim to find the most appropriate response into the jigsaw to achieve the
objective – and this response might might include administrative controls (i.e.
a supply contract update), procedural controls (i.e. materials handling
procedures) and relevant wellness promotion (i.e. teaching practical
mindfulness techniques for when doing hazardous tasks)
WorkSafes
prioritized approach – a focus on risk
I understand why WorkSafe have clearly
defined their prioritized approach to focus on health risks first and
foremost. I think it is appropriate for
the regulator considering the maturity level of NZ industry. Many organisations still need to grasp the
basic concepts that significant health risks exist from the way we currently do
business and we need to manage these health risks better.
In practice, due to the overlapping nature
of health risks, there will be an ongoing debate about the symbiotic nature of
the relationship between wellness and health risk – the idea that you can’t
manage one without the other.
Ultimately, I think different businesses needs vary depending on their
risk profile. As a operational risk
professionals we need to decide on an approach that suits the needs and nature
of your business because you will need to sell the message to key
stakeholders.
At Z we place a big emphasis on leadership
and culture across our whole operational risk approach – whether referring to
Health, Security, Safety or the Environment.
With a cultural approach, we don't talk about either or, we live in a
world of both. They sit where the
circles overlap. So we aim our messages
and initiatives to support and enhance both together rather than one over the
other. It's a healthy and positive
marriage.
Next
Steps New Zealand Industry
In my opinion it’s a good step forward but
I also think it’s only one step forward and there is more work to do.
I also believe another step forward within
the industry is the understanding of Health and Wellness culture and that it is
similar but also a little different from safety culture. Many parts of a safety culture programme apply
but because of the nature of many health and wellness risks with long lead
times, the worker as the risk and the lack of a defined incident - I believe there needs to be a Health and
Wellness culture initiative that sits in the space between Safety and
Performance culture. The risk conversation is how you get a meeting with the
board, but the performance conversation is how you engage the people – shared
responsibility. Mindfulness, for
example, is not a new idea but at Z a few of us have started talking about
having a mindful culture – its an interesting idea because it can be applied
practically to all sorts of things like - being mindful with our day to day
tasks, being mindful when driving, being mindful in meetings, being mindful in
the way we relate to each other, mindful eating. It has application to both managing risks and
improving performance. There is some
power in individuals being mindful, but infinitely more powerful if it becomes
part of ‘the way we do things around here’.
I believe another next steps that the
report doesn’t address is a stronger understanding nationally about systems
based thinking to managing health risks.
Clearly understanding that effective management comes from understanding
how the whole operational risk management system can point to health risks - its not just a ‘safety management system’.
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