For those voting Yes for If marijuana was decriminalised, would it affect your organisation's drug and alcohol policy? would any of you like to give reasons why?

As a means of cooling someone down I'm sure there's cheaper ways. While it has been reported that slushies are a better way of cooling people compared to cold drinks, I'm not sure the increase in cooling ability is worth the extra investment compared to simply buying drinks/ vending machines.

In saying that, in terms of workplaces prisons are probably one of the most difficult places to work in terms of the physical environment (heat, violence) and mental fatigue (dealing with violence, prisoners etc). Anything that is going to improve the physical and mental well being of the workers can only be a good thing and of the $1.3 billion Corrections budget this spending seems minuscule

A good recent development has been the approval of the AS/NZS 4760 standard, which sets out the process for drug testing through saliva. I believe this is more relevant for dealing with cannabis in the workplace as drugs detected in the saliva are going to a far greater indication of impairment compared to a urine test which can show detects for up to 30 days.

As Peter mentioned, the legality is impairment, not legality. The saliva test gives a greater indication of impairment.

Having GPS in a work vehicle that is part of work is fair game, but there would be privacy concerns having GPS in a vehicle that is included in a remuneration package.

You'd need to carry out a risk assessment, what are the hazardous substances? How are they used? How much could be lost in a spill?

The answer to your question would be different if you're using hydrochloric acid vs. a weak acid, and it would depend on what you have on hand. If they're small quantities, you're close to a medical centre and you have clean running water then you're probably fine. So a lot depends on your situation

I think IMPAC does an auditing course. Though I've found the best experience is taking part in audits, being audited, or being the auditor as part of a team.

We have all the staff sign the toolbox, either on a hard copy, or electronically on a tablet/ cellphone

In the case of a respirator where the facial hair is an issue a positive pressure respirator could be worn.

We have been through this at my workplace. We even contacted the Human Rights Commission. There is no clear answer... The HRC pointed us to a European Human Rights case that pointed towards the requirement for PPE overriding the religious requirement, but there was no firm answer on the matter.

In our case we prevent the worker from going on customer sites where hard hats are a requirement, though this isn't always going to be possible.

I used WorkSafe's Emergency Response template for ours.

I made my own template in word, but I based all the headings and sections off the WorkSafe one.

I think referring to this as the "Bash Bill" instead of the Domestic Violence Victims Protection Bill shows the sort of attitudes that are rife within New Zealand that lead to our terrible levels of domestic violence.

As health and safety professionals we're required to ensure workers are able to work healthily and safety and sometimes there are external personal factors that can influence this that must be taken into account.

In our business the health and safety team has a budget of $0. Each business unit is expected to pay for health and safety costs out of their own operational budgets. We can make recommendations for training training or equipment but since we have no financial authority it's not up to us to make it happen.

We mandate that there must be a spotter at all times when using a MEWP