Category: Health & Safety

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NZCTU: Minister needs to listen to the evidence on engineered stone ban

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product.

“We need to follow Australia’s example and implement a total ban of engineered stone, a dangerous product that is killing workers,” said Polaczuk.

“Exposure to the silica dust from cutting engineered stone can cause the fatal lung disease silicosis. Workers exposed to this material are developing symptoms at an accelerated rate, and at a much younger age than other occupational respiratory diseases.

“The Minister has said that she’s consulting on the full spectrum of regulatory options but is also saying from the outset that she doesn’t think a ban is the way to go. She needs to keep an open mind and listen to the experts, and not rule out options from the outset.

“In July we joined with 18 other unions, public health experts and health and safety specialists and released an open letter calling on the Minister to listen to the overwhelming evidence and implement a ban. This is now her chance to do so.

“There are safe alternatives to engineered stone – it is a fashion item, not an essential product, and so we lose nothing from taking it out of the market.

“The Minister has the power to eliminate this hazard and save workers’ lives. This is her opportunity to do the right thing,” said Polaczuk.

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NZCTU put Brooke van Velden on notice over WorkSafe cuts

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have sent an open letter to Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, following another round of devastating job cuts at WorkSafe.

“Aotearoa New Zealand’s record on workplace health and safety is costing the lives of so many workers, and instead of working to turn that record around, we have a Minister who is making decisions that will cost even more lives,” said NZCTU Acting President Rachel Mackintosh.

“WorkSafe already lost 15% of its staff in the last 12 months – 113 roles. Now the organisation will lose another 54 roles, which will critically undermine its core functions as our workplace health and safety regulator.

“Alongside these job cuts, WorkSafe have announced they are disestablishing the health team, which will undoubtedly lead to an increase in health-related harm and deaths in workplaces across the country.

“Dozens of New Zealand workers die each year as a result of workplace injuries. In addition, estimates suggest that 750-900 workers die each year from work-related occupational diseases such as asbestosis and cancers.

“This hollowing out of our health and safety regulator is deliberate. WorkSafe is being set up to fail. The Minister and her Government have an aversion to regulation, yet good regulation is essential to good health and safety and saving workers lives.

“Workers will need to issue the Minister with an improvement notice if she doesn’t start taking health and safety seriously and use her role to bring down our abysmal injury and death rates.

“This Minister is overseeing an all-out assault on working people – while gutting WorkSafe, she is leaving workers in the ditch on Holidays Act reform, undermining personal grievance claims, and threatening to weaken health and safety law. This is on top of scrapping fair pay agreements, bringing back 90-day fire at will agreements and redrafting employment law on behalf of the multinational corporation, Uber.

“Working people are sick and tired of this Minister and her extreme anti-worker agenda. It’s well past time she learnt the requirements of her role and put the health and wellbeing of workers above the interests of big business.

“We are putting Brooke van Velden on notice and saying enough is enough,” said Mackintosh.

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NZCTU alarmed at further cuts to WorkSafe

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

WorkSafe’s announcement that it is planning even further restructuring and cuts just months after losing 15% of its staff has alarmed the NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi.

“Our health and safety regulator is a critical component of our health and safety system, and we know it already has an undercooked capacity to deliver on its role,” said NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff.

“Taking more people out to save money to pay for tax cuts is short-term thinking that will have long term consequences for the health and safety of New Zealand workers.

“WorkSafe is now set up to fail. They have stripped down the organisation to its bare bones, throwing whatever they can to the so called ‘front line’ inspectorate, knowing full well that without a well-resourced support function, the inspectorate will be less effective. 

“Everyone in New Zealand has the right to expect a safe workplace and to be able to come home safely to their family at the end of the day. Sadly, these cuts will mean more workers will be at-risk.

“This announcement is all smoke and mirrors. The fact remains that WorkSafe, remains well short of the numbers of inspectors the agency once had when it was created in 2013. At that time, we had 8.4 inspectors per 100 thousand workers (similar to Australia) and now it has been run down to 6.3 – a level we last saw when the Pike River disaster occurred.

“Compounding this problem is the lack of support, and the expectation in this latest proposal for inspectors to pick up more administrative and other functions on top of their day job. This makes a mockery of the claims to move resources to the front line.

“These proposals signal a further shift away from protecting workers from risks to their health and safety and towards a focus to responding to harm. WorkSafe has had to shrink away from its proper role to fit the budget.

“Our health and safety system relies on an effective regulator. This latest announcement demonstrates yet again that health and safety is just not a priority for the Government,” said Wagstaff.

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19 organisations send Brooke van Velden open letter calling for engineered stone ban

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

Unions, public health experts and health and safety specialists have today released an open letter sent to Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden calling on the Government to follow Australia’s world-leading example and ban the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone products.

Australia’s ban, which came into effect 1 July 2024, was put in place following broad consultation, extensive analysis, and is based on scientific evidence that indicated engineered stone workers exposed to silica dust are disproportionately diagnosed with accelerated silicosis – a fatal lung disease.

“We are calling on Brooke van Velden to listen to the evidence and save workers’ lives by banning engineered stone in Aotearoa New Zealand,” said NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff.

“Dubbed the modern-day asbestos, the evidence of the harm caused by silica dust is overwhelming. It is clear that a ban on engineered stone is the only option.

“We have continued to warn the Minister that engineered stone needs to be banned. We are pleased to be joining with 18 other organisations to reiterate the urgency of this demand.

“There is no level of safe exposure to silica dust, and it can be fatal. Workers are developing symptoms at an accelerated rate, and at a much younger age than other occupational respiratory diseases. Silicosis is an incurable disease, but the exposure is preventable.

“We want Aotearoa to replicate the regulatory settings adopted in Australia to give workers, businesses, and the wider public the certainty that worker health will be prioritised.

“Work-related health issues kill between 750 and 900 workers each year, and hospitalise a further 5000-6000 workers. It is critical that we do everything we can to protect workers from the impact of work on health.

“Everyone has the right to expect a safe workplace and to be able to come home safely to their family at the end of every day.

“There is simply no need for engineered stone. It is a fashion product and there are safe alternatives on the market. Workers’ lives shouldn’t be traded off for a trendy kitchen,” said Wagstaff.

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Job cuts will severely compromise ACC services

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi is dismayed at the announcement that there will be 300 jobs cut at ACC.

“There is no doubt that such sweeping job cuts will severely compromise ACC’s ability to essential deliver services that New Zealanders rely on,” said NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff.

“These job losses will lead to less reliable services, undermining ACC’s ability to support people in need. It will now be much harder for people to access their entitlements and get the help they need to recover from injuries.

“It is deeply worrying that there are significant cuts to the Injury Prevention teams, which are focused on ensuring accidents and injuries don’t happen in the first place. Given that WorkSafe has also pulled back from injury prevention due to lack of funding, there will now be no agency leading on preventing workplace injuries.

“Working people deserve better than this. Everyone has the right to expect a safe workplace.

“The Government’s pursuit of tax cuts at whatever cost has directly led to the gutting of the public service, which will cause irreparable harm to New Zealanders who rely on timely and efficient services,” said Wagstaff.

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New Zealand not in Better Health after Budget 2024

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The NZCTU has analysed the health spending at Budget 24 in conjunction with ASMS and NZNO. Health funding was central during the election campaign. All major political parties stated that they would increase health funding every year.

 “This Government has added $93 million to health operating expenditure for the 2024/25 fiscal year on a net basis. This appears to be much less than the $2 billion of new operating expenditure claimed in the Budget. Much of that is not new money, it’s simply recycled expenditure. When adjusted for inflation, total operating expenditure fell by $775 million or nearly 3%,” said Craig Renney, NZCTU Economist and Director of Policy.

“With population growth, this figure becomes even more troubling. Per capita operational expenditure on health fell by 1.3%, and real per capita expenditure (i.e., adjusted for inflation) fell by 4.5% on current population projections.

“Many election promises were not delivered in Budget 2024, including:

  • 13 new cancer drugs
  • 50 additional doctors per year
  • More nurses and midwives
  • Funding a new medical school.

“As an example of the priorities within government, Budget 2024 commits more new money to funding security guards for A&E departments than to training new medical staff. We would question whether hospitals would need so much security if patients were being seen more quickly by doctors.

“This Budget doesn’t appear to have addressed any of the key workforce shortages in any meaningful way. This is likely to increase stress levels across the workforce and encourage more trained medical staff to move overseas.

“Budget 2025 will present another opportunity to address the shortages being generated by this Budget. The Coalition Government needs to take that opportunity to invest properly in health services and health workforces,” said Renney.

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Review an opportunity to strengthen workplace health and safety

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on Minister Brooke van Velden to ensure that her review of health and safety law puts the voices of workers front and centre.

“Everyone in New Zealand has the right to expect a safe workplace and to be able to come home safely to their family at the end of the day. That must be the number one priority of any review to health and safety laws,” said Wagstaff.

“This review must include robust consultation and engagement with workers and their unions, to ensure best practice health and safety. It is workers who bear the brunt of poor health and safety, the people doing the work are the best placed to understand risks.

“I am concerned that the announcement of this review foreshadows a weakening of a long-standing consensus on improving workplace health and safety in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“The current Health and Safety Act is generally working well, and it is line with international best practice. What we need is to build on the current system, and strengthen the law, rather than weaken it.

“This Government’s aversion to regulation must not put the health and safety of workers at risk. Good health and safety relies on having a strong regulator, capable employers, and informed and empowered workers working together.

“Good businesses know the importance of health and safety, it’s not a tacked-on compliance cost but a standard part of good business practice.

“Under the Minister’s watch, WorkSafe has undertaken job cuts and is under further pressure to find even more cost savings. This is a recipe for further workplace injuries and death.

“This review is a great opportunity to strengthen New Zealand’s approach to health and safety. Some easy wins for the Minister would be to ban engineered stone and introduce corporate manslaughter legislation,” said Wagstaff.

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NZCTU welcomes corporate manslaughter bill introduction

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees are killed at work.

The Crimes (Corporate Homicide) Amendment Bill would introduce a new criminal offence that provides that a person or entity will commit the offence if they have a relevant legal duty of care, and engage in conduct that exposes any individual to whom that duty is owed to a risk of death or serious injury, are reckless as to that risk, and their conduct results in the death of the individual.
 
“Unions have long been calling for corporate manslaughter legislation. We commend Camilla Belich for showing leadership on this Workers’ Memorial Day by introducing this Bill and fighting to uphold the health and safety of working people,” said Wagstaff.
 
“This Bill would bring us in line with international best practice, but most importantly, it would save workers’ lives.
 
“In Aotearoa New Zealand, the rate of workplace death is one of the worst in the developed world. There were 57 workplace fatalities in 2023 and three fatalities in the first 2 weeks of 2024. Every week 17 workers are killed as a consequence of their work.
 
“It’s a record we should be ashamed of, but it doesn’t have to be this way. This Bill is one of the most effective ways of preventing workplace deaths, as it holds employers accountable if they do not prioritise health and safety at work.
 
“Everyone deserves good work – work that is safe and secure, well-paid, and contributes to a meaningful and fulfilling life.
 
“The NZCTU are calling on the Government and all political parties to do the right thing and help ensure everyone is safe at work by supporting this Bill,” said Wagstaff.

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Action still required to eliminate the harm caused by engineered stone

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

More needs to be done to protect people who work with engineered stone. Workers in these industries are being exposed to highly hazardous silica dust and fears remain for their health and safety.

This week NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff joined Kathryn Ryan on RNZ’s Nine to Noon to discuss the issue.  Also on the segment was Professor Lin Fritschi, a cancer epidemiologist specialising in occupational causes of cancer:

The issue

Engineered stone is a man-made artificial product that combines crystallised silica and other materials with resin. The silica dust created from cutting, drilling or grinding these materials is extremely hazardous.

Exposure to silica dust can cause silicosis (scarring of the lungs), lung cancer and auto-immune disease. These diseases are incurable and can be fatal.

Evidence from Australia demonstrates the damage caused by engineered stone. Workers in the industry are diagnosed with silicosis at a much higher rate than the general population with ‘1 in 3 workers tested in Queensland showing signs of silicosis’.

A 2021 Australian National Dust Disease Taskforce report found nearly one in four workers exposed to silica dust from engineered stone before 2018 have been diagnosed with silicosis.

Call to action

While silicosis and other diseases caused by silica dust exposure are incurable, they are preventable.

The NZCTU is working with a growing number of unions, academics, and health and safety professionals calling for a ban on engineered stone. Established health and safety principles tell us to eliminate risks whenever possible as a first option – this option is available.

“It’s simple 101 health and safety if you don’t need to do it, then stop doing it”

— NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff

The growing evidence of the harm caused by exposure, and the fact that WorkSafe is having to up enforcement pressure on businesses to manage the risks properly, shows that a ban on all engineered stone products is necessary (with the only exemption for managing or removing engineered stone already in place).

Engineered stone benchtops are a cosmetic choice, and many safe alternatives exist. We can protect workers from life-altering illness by banning this material.

It is clear to us that a ban is only safe option.