Hi I'm Paul Snook and I am the health and safety officer at kawerau District Council. I used to regularly contribute to this forum and was only thinking the other day what a shame it has disappeared. Great to have it back on track again I look forward to contributing and continuing to learn. Good stuff safeguard!

Hey,

I'm Campbell Hardy, I have worked in H&S environment for over 12 years starting in Forestry and continuing now in Electrical Industry.

I turn my mind, body and soul to various activities within in our business - Site audits and inspections, investigations, equipment management, staff training, staff engagement, PPE management, subcontractor management, continuous improvement programs, procedure development and risk management to name but a few.

To be involved in H&S, making a real difference to our working environment, whether recognized or not is a huge reward. We're saving life’s people?

With forums such as this, it's great to be able to share across multiple work types and benefit from a bit of cross pollination. Just brilliant.

Cheers; Campbell

Hi my name is Graham I’m H&S Rep at Splash Planet theme park. I’m also involved in a club which holds a very public event every year and H&S is rearing it’s head. I’ll have a few questions about volunteers and public events

Hello Everyone,
I was a member of the old forum for a fair number of years, so some may remember me. I work for a Crown Research Institute, Plant & Food Research, as a Laboratory Safety Advisor. I look after a fair number of Laboratory Managers, and have responsibilities for the management of hazardous substances, and as the Licensee for a Radiation Laboratory. I've been involved with the handling and management of hazardous substances since the last days of the pre-HSNO legislation (Dangerous Goods Act, Toxic Substances Act etc).

Crikey it's good to have the Forum back, Steve Hodgson, Electrical Service Technician and owner/manager of Port Appliance Test & Tag. Member of the old forum going back to 2009 when Sandie and I started our business off.
We test appliances for a wide variety of businesses and,it is interesting to see the different approaches to electrical safety in those businesses, happy to help anyone with a question on the various standards and regulations that apply to electrical appliances.

Jan Hall: Member of the old forum. Synchronicity! I was just contemplating how good it'd be to have a forum again.

H&S Consultant, largely in commercial construction but also now have 'green' clients community businesses which are fun but after commercial construction do resemble herding cats. Also now the H&S person in a group of forensic engineers and scientists, one of whom has recently returned with some new perspectives on accident investigation from MIT. I'm looking forward to learning more and will share on here.

Personal focus: the human side of H&S. The creation of records, procedures and instruments that work for the users as well as being compliant. Favourite read not yet supplanted: "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman; Favourite blog https://safetyrisk.net

Personal dislikes: The constant creation and generation of terms and acronyms mistakenly designed to show health and safety practitioners as a 'professional elite'. These silly efforts do nothing but mystify and antagonise frontline personnel and make health and safety practitioners look like idiots and 'try hards' in the eyes of true professionals engineers, architects, etc.

Since the HSWA 2015 the good old TA has become: SWMS (if you read the dictionary definitions, 'method' and 'statement' are interchangeable), and JSA and there are even dissertations on the difference between them! And I see that into the description of a Health and Safety Policy has crept "Statement of Intent".

Is it time to get down to earth, stop giving ourselves futile airs, and get alongside the people we are purporting to assist and call ourselves a trade as suggested by Dr Rob Long in his https://safetyrisk.net Blog?

Hey,

I think I’m about to entice our first debate!!!

Love Rob Long blog's... However he's not God? Human just like the rest of us and from time to time has some pretty odd ideas to be polite.

Trade we are not! If anything we are a support role. We have no tools, rather a deep knowledge and ability to manage people and process to ensure beneficial outcomes for individuals, teams and businesses as a whole.

Woohoo, where in to it! Cheers; Campbell Hardy

Kia ora koutou
Marion Edwin here, ergonomist/human factors professional in my own consulting business, and current Chair of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of NZ. I also wear a hat on the HASANZ governance team. Thrilled to see the return of the forum and to hear and particpate in some of the discussions. It is a nice addition to the health and safety community - thanks Safeguard!

Hello all.
Craig Marriott. Safety consultant with lots of high hazard background but these days mostly working at exec level on broad safety leadership and systems. Currently seconded into WorkSafe as the General Manager High Hazards and Energy Safety.
Like others, glad ro see the forum back, I was mostly a lurker although am reasonably active on LinkedIn. The new forum structure will certainly make it easier to contribute a bit more where I can.

Hi All,

Malika Rose, H&S Officer and AJ Hackett Bungy NZ and co founder of the Central Otago H&S Forum. Great to see this forum back up and running. Great to have a sounding board even though I have been more of an observer than contributor! Cheers.

So not trade because no tools. Really? Is a profession merely an occupation which employs no tools? As for Long. Someone said he was God? I must've missed it. Myself I merely cited him as being thought provoking. Good that he DOES have some unusual ideas. That's what keeps people thinking. Long isn't the only person I mentioned though. How about Daniel Kahneman?

Hi

I was a member of the old forum, good to see it return, but I do hope it remains useful and positive.

I have over 10 years of H&S experience and a member of NZISM. My goal is to become registered with HASANZ in the next couple of years (just watching how things go in that area first).

I am currently H&S Manager for a logistics company.

I look forward to constructive discussions and sharing ideas.

Pia

Kevin Jones, consultant and writer of the SafetyAtWorkBlog. For some organisations I have recommended moving these sorts fo forums to other platforms, mainly because the moderation and oversight was poor, non-existent and sometimes nasty and combative.

In my experience the SafeGuard Forum has been managed very well and I am very glad to see it back.

Kevin, thanks for the kind words. We are all still getting to grips with how this new forum environment works, including myself as administrator and (so far) sole moderator. However I will appoint one or two other moderators in due course. I haven't looked into it in any detail, but I understand the moderator's sanctions range from a slap over the wrist with a wet bus ticket right up to tarring and feathering (non-toxic tar, naturally). Let's hope people can debate and disagree without the use of intemperate language.

Simon Lawrence, previous Forum member. Self employed OHS consultant. Involved in the "systems" side of OHS - safety management systems, audits, coaching, development and training. I have to admit getting what Peter describes here as a slap over the wrist with a wet bus ticket once or twice previously. But I'm a good boy really.

Very much looking forward to engaging with discussions on here. On first impressions, it has a nice, simple format for topics. Yet to see how notifications work but already a huge step forward from the previous email based system.

Well done Peter, it's good to see the Forum back.

Hi, Previous forum member and mainly a reader with some comments from time to time. Good to see it running again....I think!

Hi everyone,
Good to be here. My name is Louise and I am Systems Manager for Hawkes Bay Woolscourers, working closely alongisde our Health & Safety Manager. I am looking forward to discussion on some of the issues we face in the industry. Happy Friday All

Hi All - great to have the forum back up and running, although I didn't regularly post comments, I look forward to once again reading what everyone is up to and the innovations that abound. I'm sure there will be some more healthy debates coming soon!

Kia ora everyone!
I'm a H&S Consultant based in Marlborough (LBT Workplace Safety Ltd).
I'm pleased to belong to this forum - I think it will be a great platform for seeking opinions/advice on "curly questions" and increase ones knowledge generally.

Greetings everyone,

My name is Theresa Khatchian and I am a Senior Health and Safety Advisor at the Ministry of Justice. I am really pleased to see the Safeguard H&S Forum back up and running as it has always been a great way to network and seek information and advice over the previous years. Well done for getting this back.

Hello
I work in H&S part time with Risk manager, Vet Clinic's around NZ, good to read everyone's post, look for similarity with this environment - Thank you

Greetings and Salutations :)
My name is Ian Chatwin, like a lot of SME's I have a dual role of Project Manager / Health and Safety Officer.
Always great to hear everyone's opinion and I have to say I have been given plenty of advice from members in this forum so I for one am very pleased it's back.

Kia Ora All
My name is Marie Fleming - Health Safety and Risk Advisor with Top Energy and NGL. My background in HSE is Mining, Civil Construction, Rail, Oil and Gas, Training and newly geothermal energy. My experience has been in Australia for 18 years. Interesting seeing the differences between Australian and NZ health and safety, its definition and implementation, looking forward to all the korero in this forum and learning a great deal!

I have worked for K2 Environmental for over 20 years. Air quality assessments, noise, stack testing are all on the menu. Asbestos assessments and analysis, methamphetamine are the deserts.

Always looking to do work smarter better and listening to others ideas.

Hi Julie Forde here
GM Canterbury Safety Charter. Just returned from Aussy and already enjoying the chat.

Hi All, Rob Powell here. Currently HSW Manager at the University of Auckland, and newly elected Branch Manager of the NZISM (Auckland). I am also the safety officer for the NZ Institute of Advanced Motorists, a volunteer group, so can assist with enquiries about how H&S affects those.

Hi all, Brook Rush here!
I am a relatively new H&S Rep at the Manawatu District Council. I have a particular interest in mental wellbeing at work. Looking forward to checking in here every now and then and maybe even posting a reply or two! Cheers.

Great to see the forum back!
I'm the Operational Risk and Safety Manager at Nova. Electrician by trade and love to ensure a workable practical approach to safety management. Great to see everyone back on here chatting, some interesting topics underway already!

Hi all.
I'm Clark Anderson, the Health, Safety & Emergency Management Advisor at Massey University (Auckland campus). I'm new to this forum and looking forward to contributing. Cheers

I'm Steve (Hudgell) Business Development Manager at SimTutor. Whilst we do have a product offering, I'm very clear on the rules of engagement within this forum and will not transgress these. I see it as a way for me to understand better what the current and emerging pain points are across the H&S Sector, as the changes in legislation start to bite, and make the need for action very real.