Construction News, August 2009

Posted in: Perspectives: Monday, 03 August 2009

Construction News – August 2009

Richard Michael, Chief Executive of Straterra

New Zealand’s mining sector, like the construction sector, has long faced serious skills shortages.

We also share the common problem of skilled staff being lured across the Tasman – and that despite mining being the highest paid sector in the country.

The economic downturn has put this problem on the back burner to some extent, but only temporarily and it remains vital for the long term prosperity of the natural resources industry that we attract new people – particularly engineers.

Research has shown the number of school leavers is falling and recruitment will become even harder across the board. On the West Coast, a key area for the minerals industry, the population is predicted to decline between four and 20 per cent by 2021.

New Zealand’s minerals industry has huge potential to expand but, if that is to happen, we need to address the key issue of improving public perceptions of the sector.

That ranges from raising awareness of the true extent of our mineral wealth – Per capita, World Bank estimates put this second only to Saudi Arabia – to highlighting the state of the art health and safety practises the industry has adopted.

There is no denying the fact that the extraction industry poses more risks than many other professions. But, as in the construction industry, that is balanced by stringent health and safety management and continuous efforts to improve and upgrade these.

We need to project to the public clear cross-sector messages regarding good practice to ensure potential industry entrants are not deterred by perceived low health and safety standards.

The Department of Labour, the government body with responsibility for improving industrial health and safety, is a key player in this space – and this is relevant to all industry sectors.

DoL reorganisation, leading to OSH becoming part of its Workplace Group, contributed to turmoil in the system. In my view the department has never resolved the internal conflict between its dual roles as teacher and policeman in the area of health and safety.

The enforcement role is vital. Without strong boundaries and disincentives, health and safety practises are unlikely to improve at the required rate. But the department has veered between one emphasis or the other - resulting in an overall impression of confusion.

The two roles are incompatible and structural separation is required so that a ‘no blame approach’ can be developed.

‘Near miss reporting is internationally regarded as a key means of reducing accidents. But if people are reluctant to report incidents for fear of penalty then the process of learning and improvement will be slower.

Businesses need be confident that the learning opportunities that come from accidents or ‘near misses’ can be openly discussed and used to improve health and safety policy industry wide.

The Government is about to revise its 2005 Workplace Health and Safety Strategy including reporting back on areas of leadership, capability, knowledge and health and safety infrastructure.

Hopefully this will result in significant insights. If the Department of Labour can address the need to resolve the inherent conflicts between its roles then more rapid progress could be made on improving standards.

Businesses across all industrial sectors must also continue to invest in, regularly review and look at ways to improve their health and safety processes.

Ultimately health and safety is a cultural issue. Cultures can take a long time to change. But we have seen it can be done throughout industry in New Zealand and there is still more room to improve.

Government can also support the industry in other ways. Elevating the status of Crown Minerals is another option.

We need more policy from that quarter to direct public efforts in the sector over the next decade. As we now have a designated Minister of Natural Resources then setting up a separate agency would seem to make perfect sense.

Finally, it is vital that central government provides more direction to local authorities about how they respond to and deal with natural resources in their areas. Currently tremendous effort is expended at local level fighting constant battles against policies that make unlocking the potential of our national resources extremely difficult – and sometimes impossible.

Richard Michael is chief executive of Straterra, the industry group representing New Zealand’s natural resources industries.