State of a Thriving Nation

Inaugural report - August 2023

New Zealand thrives when our businesses and our workers thrive. Thriving businesses understand that healthy and safe workers are the core foundations of a productive business, not a cost.

Whilst there are pockets of progress in this direction, our collective health and safety performance as a country remains sluggish, uncoordinated, and under-discussed, despite significant investment by government and businesses alike and the unacceptable costs to our communities and the economy.

The first report of its kind

That’s why the Forum approached Sense Partners to pull together a range of economic and qualitative data to better understand this country’s health, safety and wellbeing performance.

For the first time we now have a wider understanding of New Zealand’s performance, in the context of the current economic cycle and international comparisons.

The total cost of fatalities, serious injuries and health effects totalled $4,391m in 2022.

This inaugural ‘State of a Thriving Nation’ report makes confronting reading, bringing together a range of data, literature reviews and interviews with Forum members to outline the true cost and value of health, safety and wellbeing in New Zealand.

State of a Thriving Nation Aug 2023 PDF • 1.8 MB

As this inaugural report shows, we can, and must do better as business leaders, government and the regulators to change this economic and social toll to our people and our country.

The Forum will be producing this report on an annual basis to communicate on how we are progressing.

Read our 29 August 2023 media release here.

State of a Thriving Nation