Latest news with #WorkSafe
Otago Daily Times
29 minutes ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Road cone hotline 'fuelling risk' of abuse
The government's war on road cones is "just fuel thrown on the fire" for road workers already suffering regular abuse, a Dunedin traffic management company boss says. Yesterday, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden launched a 12-month pilot of a road cone hotline to investigate "instances of over-compliance in temporary traffic management", as part of changes to government regulator WorkSafe. The owner of a Dunedin traffic management company, who the Otago Daily Times has agreed not to name, said the hotline was "pretty out of the gate". "I just think it's very much noise — a great one for the politicians to bang on about." Abuse towards road workers was "systemic" and in the most extreme cases, often further north, workers had been threatened with knives or guns. "The biggest thing we train on is de-escalating conflict," the owner said. "This has just trumped it ... ultimately, it's fuelling a risk that we've only just ever managed." Traffic management was needed when essential work such as water or power maintenance was being carried out — something people overlooked. "A new university building, a new hospital — it's just 'bloody road cones'. "If people don't know the bones of what [the hotline's] trying to achieve — and there are some good things of what it's trying to achieve — they don't look into that. "They just see, 'oh, these f ...... road cones'. "It's just fuel thrown on the fire." He wanted to know how the scheme's success would be measured and who was liable if, for example, a vehicle drove through a work site due to a lack of road cones. A traffic management plan signed off by key stakeholders was already required for work sites, which included details of the number and spacing of cones used, he said. If not adhered to, a company could be audited or shut down. The hotline could "balance" those who put out more cones than a traffic management plan required, but he thought it was uncommon, as operators wanted to make the best use of their resources. In a statement, WorkSafe chief executive Sharon Thompson said the pilot aimed to reduce unnecessary cones on the road. "While cones are primarily there to manage the speed and flow of traffic and help keep everyone safe, there can be times when usage is excessive. "We will engage with those involved with temporary traffic management and provide information to influence them to take a more risk-based approach to the use of cones on the road." Ms van Velden did not respond to questions before yesterday's deadline.
Otago Daily Times
5 hours ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Concern hotline will increase abuse
The government's war on road cones is "just fuel thrown on the fire" for road workers already suffering regular abuse, a Dunedin traffic management company boss says. Yesterday, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden launched a 12-month pilot of a road cone hotline to investigate "instances of over-compliance in temporary traffic management", as part of changes to government regulator WorkSafe. The owner of a Dunedin traffic management company, who the Otago Daily Times has agreed not to name, said the hotline was "pretty out of the gate". "I just think it's very much noise — a great one for the politicians to bang on about." Abuse towards road workers was "systemic" and in the most extreme cases, often further north, workers had been threatened with knives or guns. "The biggest thing we train on is de-escalating conflict," the owner said. "This has just trumped it ... ultimately, it's fuelling a risk that we've only just ever managed." Traffic management was needed when essential work such as water or power maintenance was being carried out — something people overlooked. "A new university building, a new hospital — it's just 'bloody road cones'. "If people don't know the bones of what [the hotline's] trying to achieve — and there are some good things of what it's trying to achieve — they don't look into that. "They just see, 'oh, these f ...... road cones'. "It's just fuel thrown on the fire." He wanted to know how the scheme's success would be measured and who was liable if, for example, a vehicle drove through a work site due to a lack of road cones. A traffic management plan signed off by key stakeholders was already required for work sites, which included details of the number and spacing of cones used, he said. If not adhered to, a company could be audited or shut down. The hotline could "balance" those who put out more cones than a traffic management plan required, but he thought it was uncommon, as operators wanted to make the best use of their resources. In a statement, WorkSafe chief executive Sharon Thompson said the pilot aimed to reduce unnecessary cones on the road. "While cones are primarily there to manage the speed and flow of traffic and help keep everyone safe, there can be times when usage is excessive. "We will engage with those involved with temporary traffic management and provide information to influence them to take a more risk-based approach to the use of cones on the road." Ms van Velden did not respond to questions before yesterday's deadline.
NZ Herald
5 hours ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Letters: The Government should think twice before giving away general tax cuts
If New Zealand has a bad record for work safety, why is the coalition Government deliberately diluting health and safety enforcement? Our work fatality and injury rate from poor health and safety compliance is considerably worse than that of Australia or Europe. Yet the Government is going ahead with the Act-inspired dismantling of Worksafe's ability to enforce and prosecute offenders. Instead, Worksafe will be more advisory, which means power shifts to employers whether to comply or not. The road-cone hotline is just a populist smokescreen. The Cabinet Paper says WorkSafe will become a more 'supportive regulator', which really means it will be more toothless. This is going to mean less compliance with work safety requirements, not more or better. Cutting corners on health and safety requirements is an easy way to cut costs. It is estimated that our poor work safety costs the economy upwards of $5 billion a year. Why would you actively seek to make it worse? This ideological cultural war against regulations and standards is getting ridiculous. Jeff Hayward, Auckland. A quick solution The speed limit on State Highway 5 around Hawke's Bay returned to 100km/h last week after it had been lowered to 80km/h in 2022. This and every other speed reduction had no factual basis. Most of us saw it as a socialist control. National, on the other hand, look at things quite differently. They continue to seek out progress in any and all things. Those I have spoken to since SH5 reclaimed its 100km/h limit say that they now drive it far safely, because they can watch the road ahead, not their speedometer for fear of a pointless speeding ticket way below what the road is designed to cope with. John Ford, Taradale. Give us the facts Paul Goldsmith is on a mission to make facts, not opinion, predominant in public media. His own Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, and Minister of Health Simeon Brown recently claimed a 7% increase in health funding in Budget 2025, claiming it beat both inflation and immigration. If that claim is analysed, a significant part of the 7% was to compensate for holiday back pay. It's misleading to make the ordinary punter believe there is actually 7% more to pay for more doctors, nurses and specialists, all desperately needed. Goldsmith has egg on his face for besmirching the media for precisely what his ministers are culpable of. An austere Budget embellished by smoke and mirrors. Will Willis and Brown deny this? Steve Russell, Hillcrest. Settlers emboldened United States President Donald Trump has emboldened the Zionist settler movement's takeover plans in Gaza. Our Government's complacency makes all New Zealanders complicit in the ethnic cleansing by the Israeli Government. Some people still try to dismiss the Israeli Government's current campaign of terror and propaganda as 'anti-Semitism'. It's time Winston Peters sent the Israeli ambassador home. Pauline Doyle, Napier Slaughter will continue Many Israelis will have had relatives murdered during Hitler's Holocaust. They will have seen footage of them being herded to their death, seemingly with little or no resistance. So when Hamas murdered over 1000 innocent Israelis, it is understandable that Israel vowed never to allow history to repeat itself. Hamas is dedicated to the annihilation of Israel. Tragic as the situation in Gaza is, the blame rests fairly and squarely with Hamas and, unless and until they guarantee to lay down their arms, the slaughter will continue. Ray Gilbert, Pāpāmoa Beach. A country of courage I agree wholeheartedly with Glen Stanton and Ruth Coombes' letters (May 31) regarding the silence of our Government on the genocide in Gaza. Palestine should be recognised as a sovereign nation. The actions Israel and the US are perpetuating should be called out by our Government. I feel ashamed of my country, that we don't have the courage to stand and be counted. We used to be a country that had courage. We will be judged by history. Diane Brown, Northcote.
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Oral Questions for 3 June 2025
Questions to Ministers CHLÖE SWARBRICK to the Prime Minister: E tautoko ana ia i nga korero me nga mahi katoa a tona Kawanatanga? Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? LAURA McCLURE to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What recent announcements has she made about reforming WorkSafe? NANCY LU to the Minister of Finance: What recent announcements has she made about business tax? Hon BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Finance: Does she stand by her statement about the Budget that "Wages are forecast to grow faster than the inflation rate, making wage earners better off, on average, in real terms"; if so, what is the effect on wage growth over the forecast period of removing the $12.8 billion from future pay equity claims? Dr VANESSA WEENINK to the Minister responsible for RMA Reform: What announcements has he made on reforming national direction under the Resource Management Act 1991? TANYA UNKOVICH to the Minister for Resources: What announcements has he made regarding energy security in New Zealand? Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by his statement in relation to emergency department wait times, "I expect Health New Zealand to empower clinicians at local levels to fix bottlenecks in real time"; if so, is he confident this has occurred ahead of winter 2025? Dr HAMISH CAMPBELL to the Minister of Education: What announcements has she made regarding learning support as part of Budget 2025? Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON to the Prime Minister: E tautoko ana ia i nga korero me nga mahi katoa a tona Kawanatanga? Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? Hon JAN TINETTI to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: Does she stand by her proposed changes to WorkSafe; if so, why? PAULO GARCIA to the Associate Minister of Housing: What recent announcements has he made about social housing tenancies? Question to Member Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB to the Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee: Why did he respond to the referral by the House to the Finance and Expenditure Committee of the Regulatory Standards Bill with a six-month reporting deadline by issuing a call for submissions with a four-week deadline? To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Scoop
18 hours ago
- Business
- Scoop
WorkSafe Needs More Investment To Keep Workers Safe, Not A Road Cone Hot Line
Press Release – PSA WorkSafe has received no extra Budget funding from this government and almost one in five workers has been shown the door in recent years. The Government's latest plan for making workplaces safer won't work when WorkSafe lacks the resources to be the tough regulator it needs to be. 'We have an appalling safety record in this country, and this plan fails to invest more in WorkSafe so it can do a better job of ensuring workers come home safe and sound,' said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association for Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. WorkSafe has received no extra Budget funding from this government and almost one in five workers has been shown the door in recent years. Jobs axed include health specialists, advisors, researchers, evaluators and legal kaimahi who support WorkSafe inspectors and whose role is to educate businesses and protect workers from poor health and safety practices. 'Nothing in this plan today adequately responds to our fatality record which is around double that of Australia. 'Employers should be fearful about prosecution if they don't keep worker safe and alive. But the Government is happy to take the pressure off businesses and water down the enforcement activities of WorkSafe. 'It's not good enough. WorkSafe is recruiting more inspectors, but not nearly enough. Australia has 11 inspectors for every 100,000 workers, while New Zealand has 6.5 and turnover remains high. 'Guidance for businesses needs to be updated, so they know how to reduce harm in the workplace, but they can't do it alone. Only a well resourced WorkSafe can do that working alongside business. 'The hotline to report road cones, which are a safety tool for motorists and workers, is a red herring. It says everything we need to know about the Government's priorities. 'It's not enough to end pay equity, now the Government is coming after our health and safety protections as well. It's appalling.' The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
