Our November 2020 newsletter covers:
- Key results from 2019 Benchmarking Report
- Supporting members to engage, learn and gain CPD points
- Congratulations to members named winners at NZ Workplace H&S Awards
Understanding performance is a core requirement of good health and safety leadership and governance. Gaining this understanding requires leaders to have access to a variety of indicators ranging from the ‘hard data’ provided by harm statistics to the ‘soft data’ gleaned from conversations with those who do the work.
The Forum aims to support leaders at both ends of that spectrum, including through our Benchmarking Project. This initiative began eight years ago at the request of members and provides an opportunity for members to track their performance against that of organisations in their sectors and across New Zealand.
While lag indicators have their limitations, the Benchmarking Project does provide participating CEOs and organisations with another indicator they can use to understand performance. Key results from the 2019 Benchmarking Report are summarised below and the summary report is on our website.
The 2020 report will kick off in January, using our new platform, and I’d encourage all members to consider participating in this free initiative. Contact benchmarking@forum.org.nz for more information.
Key Results from 2019 Benchmarking Report
Key results from the Forum’s 2019 Benchmarking Project are available on our website.
These results show an overall Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) in 2019 of 5.35 for all participants in the survey and all workers (employees and contractors). This was a 69% increase on the 2018 result.
The Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) of 2.22 was up 72% on the 2018 result and the All Injuries rate of 17.27 was up 50% on the year earlier. Three workers were recorded as losing their lives while working for survey participants.
The Near Miss Reporting rate of 49.59 was up 70%.
In 2019, 75 members took part in benchmarking, compared with 77 in 2018. The hours worked (sample size) was 125.8 million hours worked for employees and 35.9 million hours worked for contractors.
It is possible that these year-on-year results have been influenced by better reporting of harm as survey participants improve their focus on health and safety and their reporting systems, along with the relatively small size of the sample and changes in the organisations participating in the survey.
However, the increase in reported injury rates is consistent with national trends. According to WorkSafe/ACC data, the number of workers who needed more than a week off work due to work-related harm was 32,232 in 2019, up from 30,480 in 2018.
The Forum’s 2020 Benchmarking Project will kick off at the end of January 2021. Participation is free for Forum members and the more organisations that are involved the more robust the data will be. We have moved to a new online platform that is easy to use and quick to enter data. Participants also have online access to much more detailed benchmarking information, including sector comparisons.
If you would like to get involved email benchmarking@forum.org.nz
Supporting members to engage, learn and gain CPD points
All members will shortly receive a copy of our Annual Report in the mail and those who have attended Forum events and courses will also receive an estimate of the Continuing Professional Development Points (CPD) they have accumulated from this participation.
These can be used to meet CPD requirements for professional organisations, such as the Institute of Directors. Some members accumulated up to 18 CPD equivalent points during the year, with the average being 4 points.
We have several events and courses coming up that have CPD equivalent points attached. These include:
Protecting mental wellbeing in your organisation – CEO Zoom event, 10 Dec, 10.15am-11.45am
At this online event, Dr Hillary Bennett from Leading Safety will walk you through the Forum’s soon-to-be released Protecting Mental Wellbeing guide and explore how leaders can identify and minimise work-related risks to mental harm. Register: kate.wright@forum.org.nz
Obligations Create Opportunity – CEO event, Auckland 5 March, 2021
This one-day course is for CEOs who want to ensure they have a sound foundation on which to build their health and safety leadership. It focuses on the CEO’s key obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act. It also explores how CEOs can leverage these obligations to create opportunities for better health and safety and improved business performance overall. Free for Forum members. Register
Executive Leadership Programme for General Managers, Auckland 25-26 Feb, 2021
This course is based on the Forum's CEO Executive Leadership Programme and is tailored for General Managers and senior executives who want to learning practices and mindsets of a world-class health and safety leader. Participants also complete the Forum's highly regarded Safety Leadership 360 Assessment. The course costs $3000, including the cost of the 360 Assessment. Register
Congratulations to members recognised at the NZ Workplace H&S Awards
Congratulations to all Forum members, and member organisations, who won awards at the recent NZ Workplace H&S awards. These include Mike Cosman and Colonel Clare Bennett, who won Countdown Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Mike was recognised for devoting his working life to health and safety, including being an influential member of the Independent Taskforce which outlined new legislation and a new regulator. Clare was recognised for developing a mental health strategy for the NZ Defence Force which has achieved real culture change and has been adopted by other organisations.
Congratulations to other Forum members who were winners at the awards: Ixom; Fonterra Co-operative; Treescape; Refining New Zealand; Frucor Suntory; St John; Aurecon; and the Department of Corrections.
Congratulations also to Farmstrong, the overall winner. See a full list of winners.