Workplace injury prevention grants open

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has opened the first round of funding for its new injury prevention programme for New Zealand businesses.

The state insurer is inviting businesses in high-risk sectors to apply for workplace injury prevention grants. Grants will be between $50,000 and $500,000 per year for up to three years to carry out a project that will help strengthen sector leadership in health and safety systems.

Grants are available in the following categories:

• Innovation—projects that focus on the design and use of new technologies and/or methodologies;
• System capability development—projects that emphasise solving problems of national or regional significance;
• Applied research—projects that contribute to economic, system wide or behavioural change in workplace health and safety.

“Kiwis are well-known around the world for our innovation and work ethic yet we also have an unacceptably high rate of workplace accidents,” ACC workplace safety and levies lead Paul Gimblett said. “We want to tap into that innovation and help businesses protect their most important assets – their people.

“The funding will support Kiwi businesses to develop effective health and safety solutions and help them share their learnings and innovations. We want all Kiwis to return home safely to their friends and whanau from work,” he added.

Interested parties will need to check the eligibility criteria and download the guidelines before making their application online using ACC’s portal. Applications close on March 28.

The workplace injury prevention grants are part of ACC’s $22 million investment programme aimed at supporting the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector to reduce workplace injury.