Hon Max Bradford
Minister for Enterprise and Commerce

MEDIA RELEASE
October 6, 1999

$500,000 FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY INITIATIVES

Fourteen projects will receive a slice of the new $500,000 Worksafe Fund to improve health and safety in the workplace, Enterprise and Commerce Max Bradford announced today.

In May this year the Government announced the formation of the pilot half-a-million dollar fund to promote industry leadership in “best practice” of health and safety management.

Mr Bradford said today he was delighted by the number of applications received.

“We have had a very positive response to the creation of the fund with 96 applications asking for a total of $3.5 million in funding.

“Unfortunately, we cannot fund all the proposed projects, but I will be closely monitoring the progress of the successful applicants and will be in a position to make a recommendation regarding the future of the fund shortly,” he said.

Mr Bradford said money alone would not eliminate workplace death and injury.

“What is needed is a culture change by industry and employees. Businesses need to own the problem, and own the solution. The Government is willing to assist with solutions, and providing the WorkSafe Fund is one means to do so,” he said.

The 14 projects that have received funding cover a variety of areas.

Some build on existing work such as the Work-Related Fatal Injuries Study (WRFIS) by the New Zealand Environmental and Occupational Research Centre.
The centre has received $78,000 for completion of international comparison of work-related fatal injuries.

“This is an important follow-on from the WRFIS released in August and should allow accurate comparisons of New Zealand’s occupational health and safety performance against other countries,” Mr Bradford said.

The NZ Mineral Industries Association has received funding to develop, print and distribute two Mining Codes of Practice and run a communication and education programme.

FarmSafe New Zealand has received $55,000 to become established and to run a project designed to reduce farm accidents and deaths involving tractors and All Terrain Vehicles.

Graphic Risk Management has received $17,800 for the development, printing and distribution of health and safety guidelines for the screen printing industry.

“I was particularly pleased to be able to fund Tamaki Makau Rau (Auckland) Maori Business Network for a project which will scope the awareness of Maori businesses in Auckland of HSE Act requirements and develop strategies for assisting Maori businesses to comply with the Act,” Mr Bradford said.

ENDS

List Of Programmes Attached...

Chart Of Health And Safety Programmes

KEY
Project Title
Description
Organisation
Comment
Amount
% of total project cost

Work-related fatal injuries in NZ: international comparisons
International comparative analysis to produce work-related fatal injury rates comparable with New Zealand; examination of international data to ascertain how valid it is to compare international data with New Zealand
New Zealand Environmental & Occupational Health Research Centre, University of Otago
$78,336.00
72%

Extractive Industries Codes of Practice: Underground Mining; Surface Mining
Develop, print & distribute two Mining Codes of Practice. Follow up with communication & education programme
New Zealand Minerals Industry Association
Greater focus on best practice required.
$64,474.50
58%

FarmSafe: Farm vehicle safety, farm tractor safety information, ATV education & training programme
Establish "FarmSafe New Zealand" as an autonomous division of Federated Farmers; implement project aimed at reducing injury & death on farms due to tractors & ATVs.
Federated Farmers of New Zealand
Greater focus on best practice required. Clearer process of how outcomes will be achieved required.
$55,000.00
69%

Forestry Industry Safety Guidelines for Forestry Operations
Produce 13 Forestry guidelines specific to various operations to complement Forestry Approved Code of Practice
Forest Industries Training
$50,000.00
62%

Best Practice guidelines for the Construction Industry
Develop & implement a Construction Safety Tendering Guide
Site Safe New Zealand
One guideline of 3 applied for. Total application was for $229,950.00 (70%). Safety Tendering Guide made up $70,000 of this.
$50,000.00
50%

Crane Operators/Users Safety Manual
Re-write & print crane safety manual
Power Crane Association of New Zealand (Inc)
Applied for $50,000 (58%)
$43,195.00
50%

Improving OH&S practice in Mäori small businesses in Auckland
Survey Mäori small businesses on awareness & current practice of health & safety issues.
Tamaki Makau Rau Maori Business Network
????
$33,775.00
70%

Industry-wide benchmarking system for NZ Meat Industry
Develop a central system detailing incident information for the NZ meat processing industry
MIRINZ
Applied for $62,700 (67%)
$28,260.00
30%

Workplace substance abuse elimination & training programme
Produce a drug & alcohol rehabilitation programme & training package for wood industries
National Distribution Union
$23,674.00
70%

Screen-printing Industry safety & health education programme
Develop, print & distribute safety & health guidelines to screen-printing industry in NZ; Prepare & deliver health & safety presentation to screen printing firms
Graphic Risk Management
Subject to confirmation of funding partners; suggest that project could emphasise controlling exposure/use of less hazardous substances
$17,837.87
70%

Health & Safety in New Zealand Call Centres
Produce resource material for call centre staff education/training based on a review of current "Best Practice"
South Pacific Ergonomics
$15,000.00
70%

Ammonia Risk Management Training Resources
Develop training resources on ammonia risk management for fishing vessel skippers, engineers & crew members
Seafood Industry Training Organisation
$15,000.00
67%

A survey of total inhalable & respirable dust exposure to farmers in NZ agriculture
A survey of total inhalable & respirable dust exposure to farmers in NZ agriculture; comparison with NZ workplace exposure standards & other literature
Department of Human Resource Management, Massey University
$13,300.00
81%

Development of Welding Processes Code of Practice
Initiation of process for Welding Code of Practice & preparation of draft document
New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union
Information on plans for final drafting, printing & distribution required.
$3,444.00
70%

TOTAL - $491,296.37

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