• Shayla McCormick
    3
    Hi All,

    The organisation I work for is completing a project where the equipment will be installed by the overseas company who built it. We will have 11 workers come from China with very little English spoken in the group. One of the challenges we are facing is communication and ensuring the understanding of health and safety obligations in NZ. We have bi or multi lingual staff on site who can translate but they do not have H&S or projects/construction background.
    What is your experience in these situations?

    One of the options we would like to explore is brining in an HS consultant/professional who is fluent in Mandarin who can communicate with the workers/supervisors throughout the project. We feel that the Health and Safety background is paramount in this situation as translation just isn't enough.
    Do you know of any H&S Consultants/professionals who speak Mandarin working on a contract basis?

    Any help here would be muchly appreciated.
    Many thanks
    Shayla
  • jason farrow
    12
    send your bi lingual staff on H&S courses, as many as you can fit in before the contractors arrive.
  • Michelle Wu QY
    3
    Kia ora Shayla,

    My name is Michelle Wu, and I am a Chartered Health and Safety practitioner. I understand that language barriers can hinder the improvement of safety culture. To address this issue, a group of Asian H&S practitioners, including myself, has recently established a nonprofit organization called the Asian Business Health, Safety and Environment Network. Our aim is to provide tailored H&S support to Asian businesses in New Zealand, as well as local businesses that employ Asian migrants. We offer multilingual services to better serve the diverse needs of our clients.

    Please visit our website to learn more about us and the services we provide. https://abhsen.co.nz/
    I believe there is great potential for collaboration to assist the Asian migrant workers in your company. Please feel free to reach out to me at 0210513978.

    Kind regards,
    Michelle Wu
  • Shayla McCormick
    3

    Thanks Jason.
    We did explore this option but the time frame and level of H&S knowledge required unfortunately means this option is not a viable one.

    Regards
    Shayla
  • Shayla McCormick
    3

    HI Michelle,
    Thanks for reaching out. This is exactly what I was looking for.
    I will get in contact tomorrow and see if we can set up a meeting to discuss our needs.

    I look forward to talking to you soon.

    Regards
    Shayla
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