In 1986, I became the youngest registered forklift instructor in New Zealand — at the ripe old age of 18. I have my boss, John Evans, to thank for that. You see, I’d been caught doing some really stupid and dangerous stunts on a forklift. And it wasn’t my first offence. At the end of a disciplinary meeting, John picked up a piece of paper and I thought, “This is it — written warning or worse.” But instead, he said, “In May you’ll attend a five-day forklift instructor course a

When it comes to workplace health and safety in New Zealand, the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) sets the benchmark. One of the core responsibilities it places on a PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking)  is to make sure workers are trained, competent, and safe to carry out their work. But here’s the catch: it’s not enough to simply collect unit standards and assume they’re valid. Under HSWA, a PCBU has a duty to take reasonably practicable steps  to che

If its unit standards based, then probably. The Government’s review of workplace health and safety compliance is long overdue - but if...

I really don't believe a crackdown on the over zealous use of hazard cones is going to help reduce risk. I want to know what if any...

As part of the government’s workplace safety review, we need to address a serious issue: the potentially widespread, fraudulent awarding of unit standards. Take unit 10851 Forklift – worth 7 credits. NZQA states that 1 credit = 10 hours of learning. So where’s the evidence of the 70 hours needed to justify this qualification, when it's routinely delivered in a single day? After 25 years in the H&S training sector – both public and private – I can confidently say: unit standar

The New Zealand Government’s review of workplace safety compliance requirements has sparked a much-needed conversation about regulation,...