It’s landed! (kind of) The Health and Safety Performance Improvement Toolkit (previously known as Safety Star Rating) is finally here or will be sometime in September 2017. See Health and Safety Performance Improvement Toolkit www.worksafe.govt.nz
What is the Health and Safety Performance Improvement Toolkit?
It was developed by WorkSafe New Zealand, ACC and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), following the results of the pilot findings in January 2017. The idea is that organisations will be able to ‘take the pulse’ of their safety culture and practices and work out how their business compares to best practice requirements……..then triage accordingly what needs to be fixed.
It includes 10 performance requirements fundamental to achieving good health and safety performance. That are organised into three core concept
Leadership Effective HSE Governance, Demonstrate Commitment, Continuous Improvement, Resources for HSE
Worker engagement Effective Communication, Empower Workers
Risk management Identify Risks, Assess Risks, Control Risks, Monitor
The approach is behaviour based (think human factors/ step back 5 x 5 etc) with a key focus on continuous improvement. You will supposedly be able to use the results of the process to reduce injuries and claim durations which will affect improve your Experience Rating modifier and therefore decrease your ACC levies.
What’s in it?
The Toolkit will contain three separate generic products that can be applied to any organisation:
- Web resources and guidance
- An online self-assessment to identify gaps in health and safety performance and receive tailored advice and guidance on how to improve
- An onsite assessment to obtain independent qualified assurance about health and safety performance and receive tailored advice and guidance on how to improve (this won’t be cheap).
Will it replace the ACC WSMP?
Short answer…. Nope. According to ACC the audit will not replace the WSMP/WSD system and “Businesses will not get a star rating to show what level of health and safety they are at.” I suspect this is because the legal / insurance minds in the process had a massive risk aversion episode when they realised that an audit is only a snapshot of what happened on one day. It does not guarantee safety outcomes….
What does it mean for Small to Medium Enterprise?
I think this will be an excellent tool for in-house safety practitioners or businesses with an ongoing relationship with an external safety practitioner. It could be used as an annual audit tool and a means of setting safety goals and prioritising safety initiatives. For those businesses that don’t have an evolved safety culture, it will be a case of yeah…nah. Without dedicated/trained people to implement the audit and manage the outcomes, it will be another item on the “sounds like a good idea, maybe next year” quagmire.
Interested to know what everyone else thinks? Is the Health and Safety Performance Improvement Toolkit a thumbs up initiative or another Yeah…Nah moment.
Have a safe and productive week.
SB