Comments

  • Seeking feedback on safety differently guideline for SME's
    HI Tania, would love to have a look and review. Congrats on your accomplishments!
    My email is
  • Charging PCBU 2 for induction into PCBU 1 site
    In this instance, the charge is for each of our employees - which we have to download all their info into the system. As WE can not (and would not) charge our employees, obviously we would be paying for it.
    It feels like all the PCBU 2's are being charged to manage all the paperwork and inductions for the PCBU 1. And a double whammy will be the cost to download all the info into their system, when our own system runs in much the same way! there is a 15 page step by step document to set it up and then to add each individual, all training documents etc - which is going to take a significant amount of time (my time). Perfect for them tho, they get all their paperwork etc done for them, and charge for the priviledge!
  • Mandatory Wearing Of Safety Glasses / PPE In General
    HI Tania, I would appreciate that info if you have it available :)
  • Mandatory Wearing Of Safety Glasses / PPE In General
    Have you looked into actual prescription safety glasses? As a wearer of prescription glasses, any over glasses do distort your vision, and I can only imagine if having to wear them for a long period of time would be awful. It does involve a potentially large outlay, but at the end of the day, someones eyesight is at risk. Come up with a policy that works for your company (company will pay costs up to say $500 every two years) and any extra is paid by the employee. Make contact with some companies that supply Prescription safety glasses and see if you can get a discounted rate if they get your business. Have a conversation with the staff, ask them how they would feel if they could no longer see their children, or wife, or drive - you might be surprised by the response if you can make it personal. Good luck, its a hard road to keep everyone happy.
  • H&S Management Software Query
    We also use the Vault and have been since 2007, highly recommend it :)
  • Random Drug Testing


    There is no test for impairment. You can only go on the limit parameters that are currently set in the guidelines, and in your drug policy.
  • Random Drug Testing

    Yes absolutely. And the staff that do not partake, do not feel victimised (because no matter how you present it, a test is intrusive). As an added bonus, the staff enjoy having the dog around. They are not permitted to engage when he is working, however many take the opportunity for a pat afterwards :)
    The dogs are amazing, we even had an indication for a firearm (turns out they have different indications for different things). After looking into it, one of the staff members was going to the shooting range after hours, and obviously had his gun and ammo in the vehicle. (It was not in the vehicle at the time the dog indicated). They are very very clever!
  • Random Drug Testing

    Hi Carolyn, We use NZ Detector Dogs. I am in Christchurch, and they are based all over NZ as far as I am aware.
  • Random Drug Testing
    Hi Chris,
    We first implemented random drug testing about 8 years ago. Every part of our sites are safety sensitive, aside from the offices. However we felt that it was unfair, to only implement this outside of these areas, and it would cause disharmony with the staff. We gained the approval of all office staff, and implemented this site wise, including ALL management.
    However it did not have the outcome we were hoping. The testing was random, picked by the testing company, but the same people got tested over and over again, causing frustration and the feeling of being picked on by the staff.
    So for the last few years, we have had a drug dog come through the site (on a day where we bring all our offsite staff in). If the dog indicates, then we test, which becomes a reasonable cause test. This has been very successful! All negative feelings have been eliminated, and staff feel much happier. Win win for everyone.