All “Safety” topics

Late last year in the District Court in Thames, a forest owner and a trucking operator were convicted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 in relation to a logging truck crash. The nine axle HPMV truck, weighing 47.8 tonnes, failed to negotiate a tight bend on a steep downgrade and rolled over, killing the driver.

Over the past 18 months, TAIC has published or opened investigations involving runaway wagons at a port, two ferry groundings, a foreign ship that lost power twice in New Zealand waters, and a near miss between a freight train and track workers in Dunedin. Taken individually, each is a safety incident with its own circumstances. The pattern they form together is worth examining: not what went wrong in each case, but the conditions that allowed it to.

David Clarke oversees the Commission that produces those investigative reports. As Chief Commissioner since December 2022, his role is to establish not just what happened, but the systemic conditions that […]

While some of the technology behind railway engineering and operations has been around for many years, the sector continues to evolve to address challenges including decarbonisation, digitisation, asset management and safety, and the risks of climate change.

TrackSAFE’s mission is simple: to prevent harm on the railway network. And yet, even after almost twenty years of awareness-raising, education, and advocacy, we still see the same behaviours putting people at risk; shortcutting across tracks, walking along railway tracks, jumping off railway bridges, and perhaps assuming trains can stop.

A major step toward lifting safety, well-being, and compliance standards across New Zealand’s road freight industry has been launched with the rollout of TruckSafe New Zealand, an independently audited, industry-led Safety Management Accreditation System.

Nearly half of New Zealand motorists do not always stop at level crossing ‘Stop’ signs or prepare to stop at ‘Give Way’ signs, a new study has found.

Drowsy driving has long been a silent threat on the roads, responsible for countless accidents and near-misses worldwide.

Almost two years of industry consultation, workplace engagement and widespread feedback throughout the sector has culminated in a new set of modern, fit-for- purpose forklift operating guidelines, helping to bring the forklift industry into the 21st century and reduce workplace accidents.

Acknowledging the interconnected factors that determine wellbeing are particularly complex in a supply chain setting, WorkSafe commissioned an evidentially based investigation of solutions to minimise vehicle-related risks that emanate from supply chain pressures in Transport, Postal, Warehousing and Manufacturing (TPWM).

In response to WorkSafe NZ’s “Guidance for keeping healthy and safe around vehicles and mobile plant at work sites” document, CILT President Keith Robinson outlines the requirements for creating Traffic Management Plans.

Australia has strengthened its heavy vehicle transport chain of responsibility (COR) requirements and aligned them with workplace health and safety laws. Similar changes may be on the horizon as part of the NZ Government’s strategy to improve road safety here too.

Every day on average, somewhere in New Zealand, there is a near-miss on a railway line.

High-level strategy and planning documents are unambiguous. Transport is an urgent public health matter – the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2018–2022 says, for example: ‘Reversing New Zealand’s current trauma trends requires a transport system that is designed for people, and one that considers their safety as the top priority.’

Over a thousand individuals and organisations have provided input into the development of a new road safety strategy that aims to prevent 750 deaths and 5600 serious injuries on our roads over the next 10 years.