Iain Lees Galloway
Spokesperson for Labour Issues

15 October 2015

Woodhouse: In a wormhole he keeps digging

Michael Woodhouse has made it even clearer today that his decision to deny people who work on farms the right to ask for health and safety representatives was made in response to vested interests in the National Party, says Labour’s spokesperson for Labour Issues Iain Lees-Galloway.

Woodhouse told Radio NZ proposed worker participation regulations that determine which working people are denied the right to have health and safety representatives are based on ANZSIC Level 2 classifications, not the more broken down but less reliable Level 3 he originally wanted to find exclusions for favoured industries.

“Using Level 2 criteria, MBIE officials told Woodhouse that agriculture is amongst the highest risk industries demonstrating a consistent pattern of fatalities, a higher than average rate of severe injuries and known occupational risks across all sectors.

“But such evidence was ignored and thousands of people working on farms have still been denied access to one of the most effective ways to help them stay safe at work. There is no reasonable explanation for that exclusion.

“The regulations are still to be finalised. Michael Woodhouse must take this opportunity to put people ahead of politics and give people working on farms the choice to have health and safety reps if they want them. As Michael Woodhouse would say, that is not an onerous request,” says Iain Lees-Galloway.

ENDS

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