The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has awarded six organizations a total of $3.5 million in grants to support development of new workplace safety initiatives.
This is the second time the ACC has offered workplace safety grants, and it is part of the state-owned firm’s $22 million injury prevention programme for businesses.
According to a statement from ACC, the recipients each proposed an innovative way to enhance safety in the workplace – most of them in high-risk sectors. Once the projects are complete, the recipients will share their ideas with other businesses in their sectors and communities.
The recipients are:
In order to reduce language barriers, which are common in classroom-based learning, the NZ Federation of Commercial Fishermen will take learning online to be more accessible for their workers.
Two of the recipients will use their grants to address unique risks in their industries. IMPAC Services will create a programme to keep people safe while engineering stone benchtops. It aims to reduce rates of accelerated silicosis disease – an emerging problem in the engineered stone industry sector.
AW Trinder will use its grant to create a new loading system for its log haulage trucks. The project seeks to reduce injuries to drivers by automating the truck load securing system. It also aims to reduce physical strain in the job, allowing workers to stay in the workforce for longer.
Meanwhile, three organizations will use their grants to develop new safety approaches for Māori, Pasifika and migrant workers, who are overrepresented in workplace injury statistics.
The Cause Collective will work to develop a new health and safety approach that uses indigenous knowledge and belief systems. Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi’s project is similar, but with a specific focus on creating a kaupapa Māori framework. Lastly, E Tū will establish a worker leadership programme for the manufacturing sector. The framework will promote indigenous models of leadership as its point of difference.
