The inaugural ‘State of a Thriving Nation – Health, Safety and Wellbeing’ report published last week stated that New Zealand’s workplace fatality rates are twice that of Australia.

In 2022, approximately 50 people went to work and didn’t come home to their families. The financial ripple effect of this and other workplace injuries is $4.4billion. This doesn’t even take into consideration the personal toll that a death has on families and the lifetime impact this has.

Heidi Lance of Real Learning says that “This is too high and needs to be addressed. It is about changing our Kiwi ‘she’ll be right’ attitude, to a culture where people are mindful of risk and feel comfortable to speak up when they feel or see something unsafe.”

The good news is improvements can be made quickly.

With Construction being the most at-risk industry, Fletcher Building is an example of a company that has been working hard over the past three years to transform their safety culture through their Protect safety programme. They have experienced a decrease in serious injuries by 86% since 2019.

Heidi Lance says “This level of improvement represents 18 more people going home this year without a serious or life altering injury and that is something we can all be proud of and should want for each and every worker in New Zealand.”

About Real Learning

Real Learning specialises in transforming safety cultures in New Zealand businesses.

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