01 P1 2 Quarterly Health Safety and Wellbeing Report Q2 2022 2023.pdf

Te Pūrengi – Decision or Action
Quarterly Health, Safety and Wellbeing Report

Meeting date: 22 March 2023
Written date: 16 March 2023
Sponsor:  Amanda  Moran,  Deputy  Secretary  Organisational  Performance  Prepared  by:  9(2)(a)
,  Senior  Advisor,  Health,  Safety  and  Wellbeing
and Chief Operating Officer
Advisor
What are you updating Te Pūrengi on?
1.  Q2 (Oct – Dec 2022) Health, Safety and Wellbeing report covering lead and lag indicators, work programme and critical risk update
2.  The area which has seen the most progress over the past quarter has been Worker Participation and Engagement (WPER), with the finalisation
of the WPER Agreement, election of Representatives and the reset of the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee
3.  Some Employee Assistance Programme trends continue to be monitored (i.e. business groups with increased usage and the continuation of
workload and work conditions being a primary reported work issue) and these metrics will be overlaid with upcoming Tō Reo survey results to
provide further insights
4.
Out of scope

5.  The report was discussed at length at Te Mīmiro and the key points of discussion were around workload and wellbeing, and cultural safety.
These areas have strong links to the DE&I deep dive that was also discussed at Te Mīmiro and recent kōrero at Director’s hui
6.  There are two papers that will be discussed at Te Mīmiro in the next quarter – H&S Critical Risks and Wellbeing (which incorporates cultural
safety) which will present some options for consideration.
Why should Te Pūrengi consider this?
The intent of this report is to be a tool for Te Pūrengi to receive information, to ask questions and to discharge their governance duties. This report
allows the Ministry as a PCBU to monitor the HSW performance, status, and progress against current assumptions.
Q2 Health, Safety and Wellbeing Report
Te Pūrengi meeting: March 2023
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Recommendations or Actions sought:
Review and provide feedback on the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Charter to enable it to be updated and disseminated to kaimahi. The charter was
broadly endorsed by Te Mīmiro, however, one recommendation has been made for Te Pūrengi to consider:
Responsibilities
2.1 Lead a culture that supports positive outcomes in health, safety and wellbeing, including cultural safety, and that all policies and strategies reflect
this, where relevant.
Note the future papers on H&S critical risks and wellbeing.

Q2 Health, Safety and Wellbeing Report
Te Pūrengi meeting: March 2023
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CLASSIFICATION
Quarterly Health,
Safety and
Wellbeing Report
Quarter 2: October – December 2022
CLASSIFICATION

CLASSIFICATION
Health, Safety & Wellbeing
Work Programme Status Update
Element
Current Activity
Next Milestones
Worker Engagement and
• The Health and Safety Worker Participation Agreement was finalised in quarter two
• HSWR training to build Health and Safety capability and meet employer
Participation
• Nominations for Health, Safety and Wellness Representatives (HSWR) were called for
obligations is being scheduled for quarter three
and six were elected
• Four vacant positions remain, (PPA, Matapopore, JEDI and remote worker), and will
continue to be advertised until filled
• Informal Health, Safety and Wellness Committee meet and greet held December 2022
• First formal Health Safety and Wellness Committee, post reset, held February 2023
HSW Critical Risk Management
• Paper outlining revised thinking to our approach and identification of health and safety
• Formalise thinking and test approach with COO, then through OP LT, Te
critical risks has been prepared and is being reviewed
Mīmiro, followed by Te Pūrengi
• In the interim to minimise critical risks, support is being provided to
teams which have identified risks to their staff, particularly those out in
the field. These teams have developed safe work methods to ensure
that risks and their controls have been documented along with safe
work methods developed
Emergency and Contractor
• System for recording First Aiders, Floor Wardens and Evacuation Chair volunteers has
• Update Emergency response procedures for those with limited mobility
Management
been established and is pro-actively monitored to ensure it remains up to date
at Willis Street
• Completing the Emergency Management standard. This standard will outline our
• Source volunteers to be trained in the use of the Evacuation Chairs
procedures for managing identified emergencies which could occur at MfE
• Finalise Emergency Management standard
Health and Safety Resourcing
• GHSL intern has completed a review of online resources. This review has encompassed
• Implement recommendations made to support and evolve the
interviews with other agencies, semi structured interviews with various MfE staff, Māori
accessibility of Health, Safety and Wellness information for employees
Ropu and Employee Led Networks
and leaders
• Additional 0.5 FTE support has been beneficial in operationalising components of our
• Support the evolution and visibility of our Health and Safety
Health and Safety framework
Management System Framework for Health, Safety and Wellness
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representatives, kaimahi and leaders
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Critical Risk Management Framework
Status Update
• As previously indicated, an internal review has been undertaken into MfE Critical Risks to determine whether these are relevant in a post-
Covid world and with new ways we are working
• Critical risks can be defined as those risks that are often low frequency but high consequence. They require a considered, managed, and
resourced approach because they have the most potential to cause catastrophic harm to a person’s physical or mental wellbeing
• The Ministry is experiencing a shift in the type of work it undertakes as it moves from predominately office based/policy work and into
undertaking field work in different work environments
• This shift in our risk profile requires us to think more holistically about the systems and processes we have in place to support us to
identify, assess and mitigate our risks and review for continuous improvement
• We are testing thinking which proposes to reduce the number of critical risks to give assurance we can commit resources and assign
ownership of each critical risk and successfully implement and continuously assess the effectiveness of our controls with the COO. We
then intend to take to this through OP LT, prior to Te Mīmiro and Te Pūrengi for consideration.
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CLASSIFICATION

CLASSIFICATION
Agency Benchmarking
When presenting the last quarterly Health, Safety and Wellbeing report to Te Pūrengi, we were asked to consider how we can assess MfE’s
performance in respect of health and safety against other similar sized agencies. The following information provides some comparison
information.
Government Health and Safety Lead (GHSL) data
•
The GHSL are assembling a data, insights and assurance group to capture government agency incident data to inform cross agency
insights
•
Data is being reviewed for accuracy and work in this space is continuing
•
MfE will continue to monitor this work and report back as necessary
•
In the interim, there is an ACC Experience Rating which can provide MfE with a form of benchmarking with other similar sized
agencies.
ACC Experience Rating
•
In the 2022/2023 year, MfE received a 40% discount on the amount it pays in ACC levies to cover workplace injuries
•
When comparing MfE with other agencies in the same Levy Risk Group of a similar size, our workplace claim performance was 40%
better on average in terms of our Risk Rate (claims over $500) and Rehabilitation Rate (the days until our people return to work fully)
•
To ensure we keep on track to receive a discount, leaders need to ensure we are made aware of any staff who are off work due to a
workplace injury and that they claim ACC weekly compensation and not sick leave
•
Similarly, if we have a staff member off work due to a non-work injury (longer than seven days), then ACC weekly compensation
needs to be applied for rather than claiming sick leave.
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HSW Indicators – Employee
The lead and lag indicators assists MfE and its Officers to monitor the performance of its
health and safety systems and risks. It will provide information on trends to identify how well
Assistance Programme
risks that can cause incidents are being managed.
EAP Usage by Business Group
Jul-22 to Sep-22
Oct-22 to Dec-22
30%
9(2)(ba)(i)
9(2)(ba)(i)
9(2)(ba)(i)
Business groups with
% increase
26%
increased use of EAP
25%
19%
20%
PPA
200%     (n6 to 18)
20%
14%
15%
16%
9(2)(ba)(i)
12%
12%
9%
10%
12%
10%
Climate
120%     (n10 to 22)
5%
7%
5%
9(2)(ba)(i)
0%
9(2)(ba)(i)
Commentary
Overall use of EAP by business groups has trended down. 9(2)(ba)(i)
. With the next Tō Reo survey open
from late March to early April, it will be interesting to see how these results overlay and either confirm or test the assumption of business groups with marked changes in EAP usage.
Climate: The increase in EAP use could be due to a number of factors impacting the tīma during the reporting period, including a spike in Covid numbers, implementation of a new model and the
team working on meeting key deliverables for key projects.
PPA: Has experienced disruption with attrition, movement and acting arrangements which may have impacted on usage of EAP.
9(2)(ba)(i)
Action for Leaders: As part of leader Health Safety at Work Act governance obligations, leaders should continue to actively work with their P&C Advisor and Business Partner to investigate ways to
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explore what work issues team members may be experiencing to address these as part of Tō Reo  action plans.

CLASSIFICATION
HSW Indicators – Injuries
The lead and lag indicators assists MfE and its Officers to monitor the performance of its
health and safety systems and risks. It will provide information on trends to identify how well
Injuries by type, rolling 12 months
risks that can cause incidents are being managed.
Nature of injury
Last 12 months
9(2)(ba)(i)
Sprain or strain
60
Sprain or strain
60
Discomfort
24
Discomfort
24
Bruising or crushing
6
Bruising or crushing
6
9(2)(ba)(i)
Other
13
Other
13
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Commentary
• Sprain, Strain and Discomfort: several incidents which had previously been categorised as nerve or spinal cord injuries have been re-classified as discomfort as it was predominately staff
reporting pain while at a workstation. This consistent with historical sprain and strain reporting. Discomfort was a new field introduced in early 2022 to capture all reporting of pain and
discomfort. This does not mean an injury has always occurred
• Other: made up of several incidents including minor cuts, near miss, knocks
• 9(2)(ba)(i)

Leaders should continue to encourage kaimahi to report any incidents, including early reporting of pain and discomfort to help build our data profile. This information will be used by the HSW
Committee to help develop its objectives and any action plans required. Good reporting will also help to inform our Critical Risk work and mitigation plans.
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CLASSIFICATION
HSW Indicators –
The lead and lag indicators assists MfE and its Officers to monitor the performance of its
health and safety systems and risks. It will provide information on trends to identify how well
Workstation Assessments
risks that can cause incidents are being managed.
Workstation Assessment requests are trending upwards. This is
linked to:
•
Reports of discomfort (n3) while working at 8 Willis Street
workstations and people finding the chairs uncomfortable or
Workstation Assessment Requests (12-month rolling)
requests for an anchor desk to support a pre-existing injury.
Where possible anchor desks were provided and/or Spectrum
30
25
chairs (which offer greater lumbar support and adaptability)
25
19
were sourced from storage. Staff have reported greater levels of
17
20
14
comfort in using these chairs and have not needed to progress to
12
12
15
11
11
11
11
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having a full workstation assessment by an OT.
8
10
•
Remote workers have also reported pain and discomfort and
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have sought assessments. Assessments generally come back with
0
recommendations for the remote worker to have a full
workstation set up, including double screens, chair and sit/stand
desk.
•
Chair adjustment videos: Videos on how to adjust the lumbar
support and seat pan of 8 Willis Street chairs will be uploaded
onto Te Taiao for quick reference.
•
Workstation Champions: Business Support will be working with
an OT to train Workstation Champions at 8 Willis Street.
•
Going forward workplace assessment requests will be
categorised to identify kaimahi location.
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Officer Training
Officer Training as at 13 February 2023
Status
Amanda Moran
Completed
Sam Buckle
Completed
Anne Haira
Completed
Janine Smith
Booked for March and May 2023
Nadeine Dommisse
Completed
Natasha Lewis
To book
Mel Mark-Shadbolt
Booked for March and May 2023
Commentary
This training is also open to Tier 3 managers, especially those who have kaimahi undertaking work that has a high risk of serious
harm.
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CLASSIFICATION
Actions for Leaders
Business Group
Health, Safety and Wellness
Representative
9(2)(a)
PID
Climate
Tūmatakōkori & Office of CE
Te Rōpu Matapopore
OP
WaLUP/WRE
Commentary
Have you met your new Health, Safety and Wellness Representative?
How are you supporting them to create channels to network effectively with your business group, participate in risk assessments and raise Health, Safety and Wellness concerns from the
people in your business group?
Quarter one’s action for leaders was to reach out to their Health, Safety and Wellness Representatives. Representatives have reported they have received invitations from Te Rōpū
Matapopore a Te Taiao and Organisation Performance to present at stand-ups and/or have a slot in their wellness group hui. We welcome the support of our other business group leaders
to reach out to their representatives and arrange for a regular slot in their existing meetings to assist in raising their profile at the Ministry.
Vacant positions for the following business groups will continue to be advertised until filled:
•
Matapopore

•
PPA
•
JEDI
•
Remote worker
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Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Charter Annual Review
The Health and Safety at Work Act places a primary duty on a person conducting a business or undertaking
(PCBU) to ensure so far as reasonably practicable for the health and safety of its workers and others whose
activities they influence or direct.
As part of a commitment to this primary duty, the Ministry has a Health, Safety and Wellbeing Charter which
steps through the key areas that our Chief Executive and Deputy Secretaries (as Officers) are specifically
responsible for.
Our MfE Health, Safety and Wellbeing Charter is due for its annual review, and we invite Te Pūrengi to review
this document and reflect on the responsibilities outlined and to assess whether this document sets out and
supports an understanding of their governance role in health, safety and wellbeing and the ongoing
commitment of Te Pūrengi safe workplace.
One recommendation is made for Te Pūrengi to consider when reviewing this document:
Responsibilities
2.1 Lead a culture that supports positive outcomes in health, safety and wellbeing, including cultural safety,
and that all policies and strategies reflect this, where relevant.
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CLASSIFICATION