Displaying items by tag: WORKSAFE

WorkSafe is warning employers that fatigue from long hours of work must not compromise worker safety.

The steps that lead to good business are the same as those that lead to good health and safety practices, says Al McCone, sector leader for agriculture at WorkSafe New Zealand.

Agriculture is the industry with the highest number of workplace fatalities – about 124 deaths since 2011, says WorkSafe chief executive Nicole Rosie.

Fuels and chemicals are widely used on farms to help improve productivity, but there can be a cost to the health of you and your workers.

WorkSafe's recent statement that carrying a passenger on a single seat quad might be acceptable in exceptional circumstances – particularly when there is no other alternative – appears to be something of a hospital pass.

The issue of death or serious injury from quad crashes never seems far from the headlines.

WorkSafe New Zealand has clarified the circumstances in which it is acceptable to carry passengers on single-seat quad bikes, in consultation with Federated Farmers, Beef + Lamb NZ, and DairyNZ.

Farmers who resent the attention of WorkSafe inspectors in their workplaces should remember that more people still die on NZ farms each year than are prosecuted for safety breaches.

The war of words over quad bike safety in Australia has recently been elevated.

The time is up for famers to become health and safety compliant.