Meeting Minutes - No.16, Thursday 14 July 2011

PRESENT Helen Kelly (NZCTU), Paul MacKay (Business NZ), Panu Raea (Business NZ), Andrew Casidy (NZCTU), Fritz Drissner (NZCTU), Kate Wilkinson (Minister of Labour), Hekia Parata (Associate Minister for ACC)

IN ATTENDANCE Christopher Blake (DoL – Chair), Jeremy Corban (DoL), Frances Lane Brooker (DoL), Myles Brennan (DoL), Kelly Hanson-White (DoL), Debra Brough (DoL), Alastair Shelton (DoL), Angus McGregor (ACC), Peter Wood (ACC)

APOLOGIES Phil O’Reilly (Business NZ), Paul Jarvie (Business NZ)

Item 16.1: Introduction – Apologies, confirmation of minutes and action points

Christopher Blake opened the meeting at 9.05am and noted apologies. The previous meeting’s minutes were discussed, and confirmed without any changes. The summary of actions was discussed and progress on outstanding items was noted. In regard to action point 15.1.3, Peter Wood confirmed that the uptake of ACC funded health and safety representative training was on track. Regarding action point 15.2.9, Frances Lane Brooker noted that the analysis of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Survey is still being completed. The final summary report will be forwarded to the Council as soon as possible.

ACTIONS

The Council:

16.1.1 Noted apologies.

16.1.2 Confirmed the minutes of the 17 February 2011 meeting without any amendments.

16.1.3 Noted the update on the uptake of ACC funded health and safety representative training

16.1.4 Noted that the analysis of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Survey is still being completed, and will be provided to the Council as soon as it becomes available.

Item 16.3: Agency business plans, policy work programmes and upcoming policy priorities

Geraint Emrys presented a draft version of DoL’s Labour Group Work Programme for 2011-12. He outlined some of its main points including:

• implementing the National Action Agenda’s Sector Action Plans
• harm reduction programmes, including quad bikes in agriculture and falls from height in construction
• national compliance projects such as machine guarding
• implementing the HSNO Action Plan
• establishing a specific approach for high hazard industries such as mining and petroleum and gas extraction
• managing responses to Pike River and the Canterbury earthquake recovery.

Helen Kelly queried the reference in the document to expected changes in employment relations legislation. Christopher Blake responded that while he was not sure exactly what it was referring to, it was likely to be relating to the implementation of legislative changes that have already been made. He reiterated the fact that it was still a draft document and had not yet been signed out by the Deputy Chief Executive of the Labour Group.

Helen also asked about the mention of employment relations projects on hospitality and retail. Geraint said that this was largely a placeholder, to be developed if resources are available. Hospitality and retail had been identified as likely areas of focus, and it would also be likely to be regionally based, primarily in Auckland. Helen suggested that DoL could work with the National Distribution and Service Workers Unions on this project.

Peter Wood tabled a document summarising ACC’s progress towards meeting their KPIs on entitlement claim numbers. He noted that these were reducing substantially, and discussed the continuing focus of injury prevention activities on high risk industries. He also mentioned work to examine the impacts from the introduction of experience rating.

Paul MacKay asked why there were troughs in claim numbers around January. Peter confirmed that this was a seasonality effect, combined with the impact of some delays in processing times over the holiday period. Various Council members pointed out that it was hard to compare claim numbers without the context of worker numbers. Peter agreed to provide the Council with additional information which would provide this context. This information would also provide details regarding average claim costs, which have also dropped due to reduced duration of claims and improved rehabilitation outcomes.

The Council also briefly discussed ACC’s internal restructure regarding injury prevention activity. Peter clarified for the Council that the restructure was not changing the overall number of injury prevention staff, just relocating them into one team in Wellington.

ACTIONS

The Council:

16.3.1 Noted the Department of Labour’s draft Labour Group Work Programme 2011-2012.

16.3.2 Agreed that ACC would provide the Council with additional information relating to entitlement claim numbers, including details of rates of claims per number of workers.

Item 16.2: Pike River investigation update

Christopher Blake began by detailing DoL’s various workstreams relating to the Pike River coal mine disaster including:

• preparation for DoL’s involvement with the Royal Commission
• the auditing of underground coal mines
• DoL’s internal operational review (now provided to the Royal Commission to be released by them in due course)
• a comparison of the international regulatory environment

Christopher explained that DoL were looking at where practice might be improved immediately, but the larger questions around the broader health and safety framework will not be resolved until after the Royal Commission is complete. Ultimately it will be up to the government of the day to decide how to address the recommendations made by the Commission.

Fritz Drissner discussed the emerging theme of how appropriate the Robens self-regulation model is for high-hazard industries and asked whether DoL was doing anything to prepare for possible changes to this model. Christopher replied that DoL has been examining the existing regime and comparing it to existing practice in other countries. He confirmed that these kinds of questions are very much in mind as DoL carries out its Pike River related work.

Helen Kelly asked whether DoL would take a position regarding the current legislative framework. She added that the Council should also develop its own view. Christopher said Dol would in due course be providing advice to the Minister of Labour, but it was still too soon to say what position it would take. Fritz talked about four recent ignition events at Spring Creek mine, only two of which were investigated by DoL. He said this was an inspectorate resourcing issue and asked whether DoL was prepared to address this. Christopher replied that in the short term, any additional resource would need to be reallocated from existing resources, which raises questions about where to take this resource from. While it is possible that additional resources would result from the Royal Commission process, it was again too soon to say.

Helen Kelly suggested that the Council adopt the position that as a general policy, any ignition in a mine should be inspected by DoL, regardless of resourcing issues.

Geraint Emrys presented a summary of DoL’s formal investigation into the Pike River incident. He outlined the large scale of the investigation, the process it was following and where it was currently focusing its enquiries, including:

• safety management systems
• gas monitoring systems
• contractor controls
• emergency response systems in the mine
• the maintenance of the mine’s mechanical plant

Paul MacKay asked whether the investigation was considering mine design. Geraint explained that DoL had engaged experts in a number of related fields, some of which would cover issues of mine design. A consolidated experts report is due to be completed by 20 August. Fritz asked what standards DoL was measuring its investigation against. Geraint said that it was predominantly Australian mining standards, which had always been used in the Pike River mine.

The Council discussed the issue of Pike River Coal lawyers being present while DoL was interviewing workers. Fritz said that it raised questions generally about DoL’s general practice for interviewing employees. Christopher Blake agreed that it was an important issue and would look at DoL’s current practice to provide to the Council.

Geraint concluded his presentation by discussing the recruitment to permanently fill the Senior Advisor High Hazards Extractives vacancy; the following-up of findings from the audit of underground coal mines; and DoL’s involvement in ensuring the safety of any mine re-entry plan.

ACTIONS

The Council:

16.2.1 Noted the update regarding the Department of Labour’s investigation of the Pike River Coal Mine explosion and associated work.

16.2.2 Recommended that as a general policy, any ignition in a mine should be inspected by the Department of Labour, regardless of resourcing issues.

16.2.3 Agreed that the Department of Labour would provide information to the Council about current practice regarding employee interviews.

Item 16.4: Injury Statistics

Frances Lane Brooker outlined information provided to the Council on injury statistics, including a summary of recent work-related fatalities notified to DoL; the State of Workplace Health and Safety report recently released by the Minister of Labour at the Safeguard conference; and an update of the DoL webpage detailing serious harm, fatalities and prosecution data.

The Council discussed the State of Workplace Health and Safety report and agreed to work with DoL to distribute it more widely. They also discussed the industry and employee engagement section of the report and suggested ways to improve measurements in this area.

ACTIONS

The Council:

16.4.1 Agreed that the Department of Labour would provide additional copies of the State of Workplace Health and Safety report to Council members as requested.

Ministers Wilkinson and Parata arrived at 10.10am.

Minister Wilkinson addressed the Council regarding the Pike River Royal Commission that is now underway. She emphasised the need to follow through the Commission’s process before jumping to conclusions about what needs to be changed, and that any pre-emption could be disrespectful of the Commission. She outlined some of the progress made under the National Action Agenda and DoL’s harm reduction projects, and the continuing work of the Business Leaders’ Forum.

Minister Parata talked about progress in injury prevention, noting that most priority areas are either improving or staying steady. She discussed the continuing focus on the cross-cutting theme of alcohol and drug use and a new focus on injuries to children.

Helen Kelly acknowledged the need not to pre-empt the Royal Commission, but said that considering regulation in mining now would not do that. There was enough information already, including information gathered before the explosion, to suggest the regulations need changing. She said it would be a disgrace if another accident were to occur before the Commission findings were released, when it was already clear that the regulations are inadequate. She asked for Council support to recommend immediate action on mining regulation. This was only supported by the union representatives. She also sought a  commitment to investigate any serious incidents in mines given the information that they were not all being investigated. She also commented on the trend for industry councils under the National Action Agenda to represent employers only and that unless that changed, unions would treat it as a deliberate policy decision to not have a worker voice. She said that employee engagement is vital for these to work properly. Helen also mentioned changes being made to ACC and raised her concerns about stopping or reducing funding for injury prevention.

The Council members discussed the introduction of experience rating, and queried what work was being done to assess how effective it is. Peter Wood confirmed the ACC is doing extensive research into how it has worked in other jurisdictions and have a plan for ongoing monitoring in New Zealand.

16.7: Comparative Review of Health, Safety and Environmental Legislation for Offshore Petroleum Operations

Myles Brennan presented an update on the Ministry of Economic Development led review. He outlined the drivers of the review and emphasised that while the government is keen to expand operations, there is a need to ensure that the existing legislative framework is appropriate. Myles discussed the review’s recommendations, particularly the four that relate to workplace health and safety, and provided a summary of work that is underway by DoL to implement these recommendations.

Fritz Drissner discussed the submission made to the review by the EPMU, which included a proposal to fund an inspectorate by cost-recovery from industry. He noted the discrepancy between New Zealand’s inspection capability and international practice and asked whether DoL was intending to expand its inspectorate. Myles said this was currently being considered by DoL, but also noted the extreme variation in international practice, in terms of the ratio of inspectors to offshore platforms. Christopher Blake noted that New Zealand was looking at contracting services from Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority, but this would not be possible without changes to Australian legislation. He added that NOPSA was interested in this proposal and was considering ways to make the necessary legislative amendments.

Myles outlined the next steps to be taken by DoL, including ongoing work to resolve jurisdictional issues between DoL and Maritime NZ. Helen Kelly asked if this was likely to be resolved by establishing a formal protocol, which would clearly set out various agencies’ responsibilities before any accident occurred. Minister Parata talked about the inter-operability of agencies and how best to clarify this in a preventative sense. She emphasised that she was very keen to see this established and to avoid the possibility of a gap in responsibility, whether it was by means of a formal protocol or by another mechanism.

Fritz asked whether there was any consideration of a requirement for health and safety representatives to sign-off on safety cases. Myles confirmed that this was up to individual operators as it is not provided for in regulation.

ACTIONS

The Council:

16.7.1 Noted the update on the Department of Labour’s implementation of the Comparative Review of Health, Safety and Environmental Legislation for Offshore Petroleum Operations.

Ministers Wilkinson and Parata left the meeting at this point.

Item 16.6: Update on National Action Agenda and Sector Action Plans

Frances Lane Brooker provided the Council with an update on the progress that has been made under the National Action Agenda. She summarised progress made on a number of actions and noted that progress is largely on track. The Construction Sector Plan has now been completed and published and the Forestry and Occupational Health plans are in draft and have been sent out for comment. DoL has done preliminary work on the Agriculture and Manufacturing plans, and Maritime NZ has prepared a draft Fishing Plan which will be sent to DoL for review. All six plans are intended to be completed by the end of 2011.

Kelly Hanson-White explained that sector engagement is underway for the Agriculture Sector Plan, with workshops planned and a ranking exercise to determine key priorities underway. She emphasised the importance of getting buy-in from the sector at the earliest stage of development. Frances said that work around the Manufacturing Plan is looking at establishing focus areas and priority issues before engaging with the sector. Fritz Drissner noted the importance of addressing airborne hazards such as dust and fumes in development of the plan. A draft of the Fishing Sector Plan will be available for the next Council meeting and Frances indicated that Maritime NZ could be invited to discuss the plan.

Helen Kelly questioned whether it was a conscious decision not to include worker representation in the implementation of the Agenda and Sector Plans. She felt that existing industry safety councils have not been effective and emphasised the CTU’s objection to this structure.

Helen requested to see the Business Leaders’ Forum’s CEO Safety Leadership Tool. Christopher Blake agreed to enquire with the forum on the Council’s behalf. She also requested that the Council be able to take a more active role in seeing what standards and guidelines are being updated and published by DoL, as per action 4.1 of the Agenda. The Council agreed that a list of current work in this area could be provided as a standing item for future meetings. Helen asked about the review of self-regulation that is currently underway. Frances confirmed that the contracted report had just been received and she would investigate what could be shared with the Council.

The Council discussed the draft Forestry Sector Action Plan, which is currently out for public consultation. Helen raised the issue of a lack of an employment relationship for forestry workers and whether this might be correlated with injury rates. Frances agreed this would be a useful analysis, but could be difficult to get the necessary information. Helen noted the NZ Forest Owners Association’s Incident Reporting Information System, which contains lost time data for the industry. Helen felt that it would be useful to make this information available to inform the plan, and could be done while maintaining employer confidentiality. Panu Raea noted his concern about the increasing severity rates of forestry injuries. Debra Brough said that the industry believes this is related to where forestry is taking place, with less felling in flat, easily accessible plantations.

ACTIONS

The Council:

16.6.1 Noted the update on the National Action Agenda and Sector Action Plans.

16.6.2 Noted that a draft plan for the Fishing Sector has been completed and that Maritime NZ will be invited to the next Council meeting to discuss it.

16.6.3 Agreed that the Department of Labour would ask the Business Leaders’ Forum if the Council could be provided with a copy of the CEO Safety Leadership Tool.

16.6.4 Agreed that the Department of Labour would provide the Council with a list of ongoing work to revise and update guidance and standards in the priority sectors, as a standing item for future meetings.

Item 16.5: Occupational Health Action Plan update

Frances Lane Brooker discussed the current development of the Occupational Health Action Plan, which is now undergoing a first round of consultation with employer and employee representatives and other government agencies. She said that the plan has been framed around both existing and emerging health priorities and also attempts to build connections across various occupational health stakeholders. Kelly Hanson-White explained that the initial consultation will feed into a series of planned workshops, which would provide an opportunity to refine the plan further.

The Council discussed a number of issues that could be incorporated in the plan such as environmental monitoring and workplace bullying and violence. Members agreed that detailed comments could be provided and discussed at the workshop itself.

Frances noted that a revised draft of the plan would be produced following the workshops, and would be circulated to the Council in due course.

ACTIONS

The Council:

16.5.1 Noted the update on the draft Occupational Health Action Plan.

16.5.2 Noted that the Plan will be revised further following a series of workshops and that Council members will have the opportunity to provide input on the plan at these workshops.

Item 16.8: DoL Labour Group change programme

Christopher Blake provided a summary of DoL’s ongoing Labour Group change programme. He explained that it was a reflection of the current tight operating environment and the need to work within a fixed Departmental baseline, as well as ongoing efforts to make service delivery more efficient and effective. He outlined the three phases of the programme, the first of which, focusing on changes to management structure, is now being completed. Changes include the establishment of a new leadership team and a reconfiguration from four to three regions.

Helen Kelly queried the decision to disestablish DoL’s specialist chief advisor positions and asked how their functions will be carried out under the new structure. Christopher explained that their expertise would be spread wider within the Labour Group, with more skilled advice at the primary contact point, supported by specific expertise to deal with complex issues. He expressed his confidence that the new structure would be able to fulfil the required functions. Helen Kelly said that the CTU continued to be concerned at this change and did not support it.

Item 16.9: ACC change programme

Peter Wood briefly discussed ongoing organisational changes within ACC. He also mentioned implementing experience rating and noted that there was a discussion document currently in circulation regarding increasing choice in workplace accident compensation.

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS

Reference	What	Who	Progress / When
Confirmation of minutes and matters arising
16.1.1	Noted apologies.	WHSC	Complete
16.1.2	Confirmed the minutes of the 17 February 2011 meeting without any amendments.	WHSC	Complete
16.1.3	Noted the update on the uptake of ACC funded health and safety representative training.	WHSC	Complete
16.1.4	Noted that the analysis of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Survey is still being completed, and will be provided to the Council as soon as it becomes available.	DoL	On agenda for meeting 17
Agency business plans, policy work programmes and upcoming policy priorities
16.3.1	Noted the Department of Labour’s draft Labour Group Work Programme 2011-2012.	WHSC	Complete
16.3.2	Agreed that ACC would provide the Council with additional information relating to entitlement claim numbers, including details of rates of claims per number of workers.	ACC	Complete
Pike River Investigation update
16.2.1	Noted the update regarding the Department of Labour’s investigation of the Pike River Coal Mine explosion and associated work.	WHSC	Complete
16.2.2	Recommended that as a general policy, any ignition in a mine should be inspected by the Department of Labour, regardless of resourcing issues.	WHSC	Complete
16.2.3	Agreed that the Department of Labour would provide information to the Council about current practice regarding employee interviews.	DoL	In progress
Injury Statistics
16.4.1	Agreed that the Department of Labour would provide additional copies of the State of Workplace Health and Safety report to Council members as requested.	DoL	Complete
Comparative Review of Health, Safety and Environmental Legislation for Offshore Petroleum Operations
16.7.1	Noted the update on the Department of Labour’s implementation of the Comparative Review of Health, Safety and Environmental Legislation for Offshore Petroleum Operations.	WHSC	Complete
Update on National Action Agenda and Sector Action Plans
16.6.1	Noted the update on the National Action Agenda and Sector Action Plans.	WHSC	Complete
16.6.2	Noted that a draft plan for the Fishing Sector has been completed and that Maritime NZ will be invited to the next Council meeting to discuss it.	DoL/Maritime NZ	On agenda for meeting 17
16.6.3	Agreed that the Department of Labour would ask the Business Leaders’ Forum if the Council could be provided with a copy of the CEO Safety Leadership Tool.	DoL	On agenda for meeting 17
16.6.4	Agreed that the Department of Labour would provide the Council with a list of ongoing work to revise and update guidance and standards in the priority sectors, as a standing item for future meetings.	DoL	On agenda for meeting 17
Occupational Health Action Plan update
16.5.1	Noted the update on the draft Occupational Health Action Plan.	WHSC	Complete
16.5.2	Noted that the Plan will be revised further following a series of workshops and that Council members will have the opportunity to provide input on the plan at these workshops.	WHSC/DoL	Complete

 

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Meeting closed 11.45am

Next meeting October 2011 – Date to be confirmed. Phil O’Reilly to Chair