No.1 construction killer targeted

Tuesday 08 August 2000

Last year 13 people in the construction industry died due to falls from height, making falls the leading killer across all industries investigated by OSH. On average, falls kill seven construction workers a year.

It is no surprise therefore that WorkSafe Week 2000 focuses on this alarming trend. The Week which is running from 1st to 7th October will see the launch of a Falls from Height Roadshow organised by OSH with support from Fletcher Construction, Placemakers, NZ Safety Ltd and Site Safe.

The Roadshow will run throughout October, travelling from Whangarei to Queenstown.

"One of the things WorkSafe Week aims to highlight is the social and economic costs of failures in workplace health and safety. Nothing demonstrates this more starkly than the issue of falls in the construction industry," says OSH General Manager, Bob Hill.

"Just as importantly, WorkSafe Week is about encouraging employers and employees to get involved in the Week to improve health and safety standards."

The theme for WorkSafe Week 2000 is "A Safe Workplace is no Accident."

"I hope people will think about the two messages contained in the theme. The first is to encourage employers and employees to be a part of the drive to lower accidents, injury and illness in the workplace. The second is that a safe workplace is the product of a planned and systematic approach to health and safety."

To help deliver the message and support businesses to improve their health and safety standards OSH this week launched a dedicated WorkSafe Week website, www.worksafeweek.org.nz.

The site not only has information on health and safety and WorkSafe Week, it focuses on how businesses can get involved in the Week. This includes OSH run events, and importantly, ideas and support so businesses can run their own activities.

"Past WorkSafe Weeks have highlighted there are a lot businesses that see the benefit of using WorkSafe Week to make health and safety part of the way they work.

This year we really want to see as many people as possible getting the benefits of taking part in the week", Mr Hill said.