Vanessa, my prior passion was working with people with an impairment or disability as an occupational therapist. So, I'm very pleased to read about you giving this chap a go as too many employers would put him in the hard basket. Apart from some written resources Workbridge were of absolutely no use to us for several hearing-impaired staff; however MBIE came to the party!!!
Great you will have an interpreter for induction process but an on the job a work buddy could be a strategy to consider also. You may find with your standard operating controls in place while workers are picking alongside the trailer that little extra provision is needed. Joseph and Darren are aligned with my thinking and as stated above "Having played sport with hearing impaired people I found they were easy to integrate and once people understood what was needed it was easy to manage.
Not knowing what language the person speaks and if there are meetings or updates, toolbox talks pre-shift etc you may find a couple of apps handy. Our staff have them loaded on their cell phones that are then placed close to whoever is speaking and it live transcribes. Androids - Play Store = 'Live Transcribe' and IPhones ...........may have a similar app?
As the chap only has a hearing impairment, you may consider asking him what is the best way for other people to talk to him. Intermediaries don't always work. Some tips when communicating with hearing impaired = No shouting, avoid background noise, rephrase if not understood the first time, using facial expressions and gestures, speaking slowly and clearly (not using Kiwi slang) and making sure your face is seen help the message receiver.
PS - some of our best workers are those with a disability or impairment; so pleased to have a job they are reliable, never take sick leave and contribute well within their work teams.

Leah as you are in Auckland, I'd recommend Suzanne Broadbent at Haz Expertise. She is experienced in biological monitoring and testing and I've worked alongside her when testing Fuel tanker drivers for inhalation fumes. Being an Occupational Health practioner and a hazardous substances expert, I'm sure she could help.

Dwaine, it's great you are reviewing staff competency with this risk!!
We reviewed typical vehicle events occurring in our fleet and decided most occurred whilst backing and manoeuvring in unknown/private driveways and car parks. We have approx 40 cars that community staff drive every day, and it was our insurance who pointed out a couple repeat offenders. Considering the average age of our workers is 53 years, so experienced drivers technically, our actions had to be more than confirming current licences and no subsequent licence suspensions.
So, all our staff were put though a one-on-one lesson with a driving instructor. Observing road signs, backing around corners, backing into parks, crawling stops, angle of front wheels when crossing traffic etc were picked up with most people. A report was provided to each individual afterwards and those with issues of concern were given 3 months to work on them. A second lesson was then conducted with those staff to consolidate their recent re-learning. Generally, we believe it is having a positive effect on minor incidents, (not analysed as yet though). Ultimately, we all found it a positive exercise and most people appreciated the refresher, constructive observer and personal report.
Our fleet has since moved to Hybrid vehicles so again each staff member has to be inducted to the vehicle before they can drive one. (Completed inhouse).
This organisational wide risk for us is significant, not just because of the hours/distances are staff are driving but some of the highways, country and metal roads our staff have to use.
I hope that helps :)
Regards. MG

Sandra,
The Resilience Institute is a multidisciplinary team of professionals. It was founded in NZ and is headquartered in Switzerland so please Google them.
Their app can be tailored to employer's needs if required. In our case they provide summaries of anything from staff activity to our general organisational health diagnostic. The latter can be broken up by teams of staff so one can get a feel for how different areas of operations or work teams are coping.

Our company has provided the Resilience App to all employees via our cell phones. The Resilience Diagnostic assessment is a great starting point, supported with a goal tracker, meditations and resilience training videos. The objective of the app and sharing aspects of it in staff meetings is to help individuals bounce, grow, connect and flow. It opens up healthy conversations :)

Roger - driver safety for workers.

I work in a business where we have numerous staff working in the community between 7.00am - 10.00pm. Every new staff member is provided a full orientation to our vehicles prior to being allowed to drive them.

Last year whilst reviewing our vehicle events and inherent risks we decided to ensure every staff member was taken for a drive with an assessor - approximately 40 minutes. Although no staff are new drivers, the exercise has been very valuable for staff who realise now how lazy habits have subtly crept into their driving. Examples of "crawling stops", not observing signage, round about skills and habits, sensible choices in busy car parks etc, reversing into parks to ensure clear vision on leaving were common findings. This confidential exercise identified a couple of staff who were provided with specific issues to work on before being re-assessed.

Since then, our fleet has been upgraded to hybrid vehicles; so once again, every staff member has been individually familiarised with the vehicle features and taken for a shorter drive.

I believe should anything untoward occur we can demonstrate adequate information, training, instruction, supervision, and experience to safely use the company vehicles and trailers.

Hello Julie, for our remote and after-hours nurses, we use a Twigg Watch https://www.twigcom.com/.
These are GPS capable and linked to a security company so monitored 24/7. If the nurse is concerned, she can discretely push a button and use our safe word NORA (need officer right away) which the security company can hear. In situations where we expect safety is a potential risk at the home, security guards stay at the front door of the home.
For our new fleet cars, we are looking at GPS capability installed in them.
Good luck Julie, it is a mine field out there.

Gail I believe this is the main reason the the Road Side Drug testing has been held up.
When I was a NZDDA (TDDA now) tester, it was well known in our industry that saliva testing was the least reliable and only identified recent use.

Claire as per Building Code although I think this sounds like this is outside???,
Stair risers max 180mm - need to be of consistent height
Stair treads minimum of 310mm
Handrail - parallel to the pitch line of the stairs.
Handrail Height between 900 - 1000mm (should not project into the path of travel at the base of the steps.)
Landings are generally 12000m, but this sounds like it is a unique situation and your steps are spanning something.
If muddy boots or potentially a slippery surface, suggest non slip edging.

Well there are obviously some folks being very well paid out there however not-for-profit and charities cannot meet those rates. I have worked in both the disability and charity healthcare sectors for years and am embarrassed at what some of my colleagues are earning. (Yes I am qualified and experienced.)
Although I consider my work is just as valuable, within a healthcare orientated industry I am always disappointed at how the Nurses can hold employers to ransom (teachers also come to mind) - while other professions have to stand aside at pay round time...........

This year's H&S income survey found the median base income of its 377 full-time respondents was $113,480. From your knowledge of what other careers offer, how reasonable is this figure?

@Stuart Keer-Keer

Check this poster out Keith, it helped support subtle messages for our staff with facial hair, prior to fit testing.

Thank you Gerri, yes risk reviews are part of normal operations these days, especially with over 800 elderly volunteers we rely on. Cheers all, I think feel we are doing all we can in these strange times.

Cheers for that Steve, now to try to understand it :)

Thank you Jane, wasn't aware of the Retail Sector Protocols released on Friday!!
However there really is very little literature I have found around ensuring donated goods, on-sold are 'clean'.
MOH are slow to respond to specific questions and just guide you to their general documents.

I was tactician for the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club Wellington, MRX yacht mini series; held in Auckland in late 80's. I was highly commended for our 'protest' presentation (in absentia as the girls had to return to Wellington) against Leslie Egnot and her internationally successful team at the time. Although we lost our protest, hard to defend if not present; I was tickled pink with what we had achieved and second place was not so bad.

Meanwhile I specialize in Universal Design - accessible spaces - internal and external environments. If only our architect schools spent more time on this!!

Hello Gordon,
Our organization (Palliative Care, Community Nursing and Retail shops) is using Risk Manager but we intend to review other options this year. I'd be really interested in what you discover (if you intend to share?).

Happy to share some of our fantastic resources privately, mandygatwaipunahospicedotrgdotnz

Hi there Jo, our depot have a procedure they follow and it is working.
The correct way to move through the curtains is:
1. Use your hands to part the curtains when walking through, or hold the curtains back with your hands when passing though.
2. When carry anything, the correct technique is to walk backwards through the curtains. This also applies when using the Dolly or sack trucks. (The curtains are transparent so any hazards on the other side can be identified prior to turning around.)
3. Larger trolleys (bric-a-brac, linen, clothing, books and electrical) must be ¬pushed though the curtains.) NOTE: Four curtain drops will run over the top of the trolley so you need to ensure the load is secure and be alert.
4. If you are carrying any goods though the curtains and don’t feel confident, ask for assistance.

I note we have no events of folk being flicked in the face but I see your ladder trucks are higher than our larger trolleys. However your curtains are certainly wide enough for people to 'keep left' when moving through.
Good luck.

Is it possible to tease the survey results out a little more? Does this median base income include professional working in the health/disability/not-for-profit/charity sectors? My feeling is this is very much biased towards corporate/private businesses.