There are some proposed changes to the Health and Safety in Employment Act, to be implemented in 2015. They’re set to be in place starting the 1 April, so you’ve got some time to get your head around how it will affect you.
We’ve put together a useful summary to help you out, starting out with an outline of what the new laws mean. Keep reading and we’ll go into the detail of how it affects companies whose employees drive for their jobs.
The gist of the changes is that the new rules create an increased duty of responsibility for company officers (e.g., CEO, directors) regarding Health and Safety in the workplace.
What is meant by ‘duty of responsibility’?
Well, directors need to understand that they will have a personal obligation to exercise due diligence and keep people safe, and that they may be personally liable if they don’t. You can’t hand off your responsibilities to another person, and ignorance is also no longer a defence. It’s not just about being aware of what’s going on, it’s also about providing leadership to move beyond compliance, to best practice.
'Due diligence' means proactively managing workplace health and safety and ensuring that the organisation complies with its duties, so far as is reasonably practicable.
The idea is to ensure a positive environment and culture in which a commitment to health and safety is part of everyday business.
In practical terms, if you’re a decision maker, you should:
- Know where the Health and Safety risks and hazards are in your business, and make resources available to minimize them.
- Stay up to date on Health and Safety matters.
- Be proactive about any possible risks and hazards
- Make sure there’s a suitable framework or process, for Health and Safety matters to be raised and seen to.
- Make sure appropriate processes are in place to manage Health and Safety across the company and comply with your obligations.
- Verify everything is in place and working.
What happens when things go wrong?
Mistakes will cost a lot more under the new laws. This is what it will cost you:
- Individuals can be fined up to $300,000 and can be imprisoned for 5 years
- Directors can be fined up to $600,000 and can be imprisoned for 5 Years
- Companies can be fined up to $3 million.
How does all this relate to driving?
Traffic fatalities represent the greatest proportion of work-related deaths in New Zealand. More than 30% of these, as well as 13% of workplace injuries, happen on the road. This creates a significant Health and Safety burden for employers and is a contributor to why many companies are now reporting that driving is their number one workplace hazard.
How can Fleetcoach help?
Any company that has employees who drive should understand that road safety is a major workplace issue and they have a responsibility to ensure their staff are safe when on the road. The workplace that employers are responsible for, extends to the vehicles that employees drive for work. So when staff leave in a company vehicle, your responsibility for their safety doesn’t end there!
Fleetcoach provides:
- Understanding: to understand where your business risks and hazards are includes gaining an awareness of the risk profile of your drivers. The Fleetcoach Risk Assessment is an effective tool for assessing driver risk levels.
- Resources: The Fleetcoach Skills Awareness training ensures your employees are trained in the crucial higher-level driving skills to minimize their risk when on the road.
- Processes: Through the ongoing access to new skills-based training modules and annual refreshers you can ensure you are satisfying your ongoing obligations.
- Verification: Organisational level reporting ensures you have an accurate view into the provision and uptake of the training. User level transcripts allow for more detailed verification.
As a director or officer of the company, managing your organisation's health and safety risk is just as important as managing financial risk, and it should receive the same focus. These law changes should be seen as an opportunity to ensure that your most valuable asset - people - are put first. After all, a healthy, well cared for workforce is also the best way of ensuring a company remains productive, competitive and high functioning.
What can you do right now?
Talk to the team at Fleetcoach about getting your free Health and Safety compliance check, so you can be better informed about what you need to do next.
