OSH not responsible for street parade cancellation

Thursday 27 January 2005

The Department of Labour's occupational safety and health service had nothing to do with the cancellation of a planned street march through Ashburton this weekend.

The Ashburton County Scottish Society has accused OSH of putting the kibosh on their annual Pipe Band Festival street march, claiming OSH regulations demanded more warning signs than the society could afford to hire.

But OSH business policy advisor Alan Barrett says rules governing street closures for events such as parades and marches are enforced by individual road controlling authorities or councils, not OSH, which deals with workplaces.

He said while it was unfortunate the parade organisers felt they had to cancel their event, it was unfair and wrong to blame OSH.

'Unfortunately there are lots of urban myths about health and safety regulations, especially where community events are concerned. These sorts of misinformed statements only serve to unnecessarily wind up communities.'

OSH service manager for Canterbury Margaret Radford said none of her staff had dealt with anyone from the society or the district council over Sunday's parade plans.

'While street parades are generally outside OSH's jurisdiction, we're always happy to talk to any parade organiser should they need advice on the health and safety aspects of their parade,' Ms Radford said.

Mr Barrett said parades using roads required a traffic management plan, submitted to and approved by the regional road controlling authority or council. There was also a code of practice for temporary traffic management, produced by Transit New Zealand, but some regions had developed their own code of practice.

Contrary to the statement by the society, the use of signage wasn't determined by OSH, but by the level of activity on the road, Mr Barrett said.

'Suggesting OSH would prohibit a march due to signage is just ridiculous. The amount of signage needed is determined by the plan drawn up by the parade's site traffic management supervisor and submitted to the road controlling authority for approval. We play no part in this process.'