Hon Michael Woodhouse
Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety
14 April 2016 Media Statement

Review finds WorkSafe performing well

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse welcomes an independent review of WorkSafe New Zealand that found the agency is performing well.

“Overall the Review found that WorkSafe is performing well and is on track to becoming a high performing state sector organisation,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“Stakeholders recognised WorkSafe’s aim to be a fair, consistent and proportionate regulator and were positive about WorkSafe’s engagement.

“Stakeholders’ perceptions of WorkSafe were positively impacted after a personal interaction with a WorkSafe inspector. They also appreciated that WorkSafe had been building its capacity and that improvement would continue as the inspectorate developed.

“It’s good to see that WorkSafe had already recognised issues identified by the review and had work under-way in most areas to address them.

“However, there’s still plenty of work to do with the new Health and Safety at Work Act now in force. This is an opportunity for WorkSafe to work alongside industry with goal of better health and safety practices in the workplace.

“I am confident WorkSafe will continue to focus on educating and engaging with industry to ensure they continue to perform well and maintain strong relationships with industry.”

The Targeted Independent Review was commissioned as a stocktake of the two year old agency’s engagement approach and was conducted by Doug Martin. The Review included interviews with key stakeholders and industry groups and a survey of businesses.

The Review report can be found at:
www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/employment-skills/workplace-health-and-safety-reform/targeted-independent-review-of-worksafe-new-zealand.

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