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Work-related health newsletter – February 2024

Source: Worksafe New Zealand

Read our February 2024 work-related health update.

Updates in this edition include:

  • Starting the mentally healthy work journey
  • Musculoskeletal disorders: Review of hazardous manual task risk assessments
  • Staying safe in the heat
  • Self-reporting asbestos exposure registration closed
  • Occupational hygiene training courses in 2024
  • Workplace injury prevention grant applications open in March
  • New Zealand Workplace Health & Safety Awards entries are open
  • How CHASNZ is keeping builders safe
  • ACC’s campaign to ‘Have a hmmm’ this summer
  • Upcoming conferences

Read the full newsletter(external link)

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Conviction for Luke Graham Dobson

Source: Companies Office – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Conviction for Luke Graham Dobson

Luke Graham Dobson was convicted under:

  • Sections 274(2) and 373(3)of Companies Act 1993 on one charge for Failing to Deliver Property to the Official Assignee.

  • Section 436 (1) (b) of Insolvency Act 2006 on one charge for Managing a Business without Consent of the Official Assignee.

  • Section 440 of Insolvency Act 2006 on one charge for Failing to Answer Questions of the Official Assignee.

Convicted on 5 October 2023 for offences against the Companies Act 1993 and Insolvency Act 2006. Sentenced on 18 January 2024 to 100 hours Community Service.

Published on , last updated on .

Categories: Convictions

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Cheeses recalled due to possible presence of E. coli

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

New Zealand Food Safety is supporting Waimata Cheese Company Limited in its recall of a specific batch of its Camembert and Brie cheeses due to the possible presence of E. coli.

The following products with batch number 8367 and a best before date of 28/02/24 are affected by this recall:

  • Waimata Cheese brand Camembert
  • Longbush Camembert
  • Longbush Brie.

Up-to-date details of products affected by the recall, including photographs, are available on our food recall page.

Food recall: Waimata Cheese brand Camembert, Longbush Brie and Longbush Camembert

“The concern with these cheeses is that there may be E. coli bacteria present,” says New Zealand Food Safety’s acting deputy director general Jenny Bishop.

“Symptoms of sickness caused by E. coli include stomach cramps and diarrhoea. Some people feel sick and vomit. 

“Most people get better within 5 to 7 days, but the effects can be serious for people with weakened immune systems, including the very young, frail older people, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant people. 

“E. coli can travel easily and fast from person to person if infected people do not wash their hands properly.

“If you have consumed any of this product and are concerned for your health, contact your health professional, or call Healthline on 0800 61 11 16.

“Affected product should not be eaten. It can be returned to the place of purchase for a refund. Should you be unable to do this, throw it out.”

The recalled products are being removed from shelves at stores nationwide. 

E. coli was discovered as a result of routine testing. New Zealand Food Safety has not received any notification of associated illness.

“As is our usual practice, New Zealand Food Safety will be working with Waimata Cheese Company Limited to understand how the contamination occurred and prevent its recurrence,” Ms Bishop said.

For further information and general enquiries, call Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) on 0800 00 83 33 or email info@mpi.govt.nz

For media enquiries, contact the media team on 029 894 0328.

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Biofouling fight protecting unique NZ environment and economy

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

Cruise ships visiting New Zealand this summer are doing a good job of meeting our strong biofouling standards and protecting our unique marine environment, says Biosecurity New Zealand deputy director-general Stuart Anderson.

“This season to date, only one of the 54 cruise vessels expected to arrive here for approximately 1,100 port visits has not entered New Zealand waters because it was unable to meet our biofouling standards, which are vital for protecting our marine ecosystems and economy,” Mr Anderson says.

“Three other non-compliant vessels had restricted itineraries and were subject to further education.”

Mr Anderson says the four non-compliant vessels this summer compares to 11 for the 2022/23 cruise season, when a smaller number of ships and port visits took place.

“The drop in biofouling issues is a good result when you consider there’s been an increase of about 25% in vessels arriving this season,” Mr Anderson says.

“Biosecurity New Zealand has worked closely with cruise companies to help them understand and meet our biofouling rules, which are among the strongest in the world for good reason – they ensure visitors and New Zealanders will enjoy our special marine areas, such as Fiordland, for generations to come.

“We’ve had some new cruise providers arrive in New Zealand this year and they’ve adapted well to meeting our requirements.

“I want to thank the cruise industry for their efforts to combat biofouling as it continues to be a major biosecurity threat. We know that almost 90% of the exotic marine species already in New Zealand likely arrived here as marine growth on the submerged surfaces of international vessels.”

Mr Anderson says Biosecurity New Zealand will review the season when it finishes in April and adjust where required.

“We’re committed to protecting New Zealand from pests and disease to protect our vital primary sectors, economy, and unique areas for future generations.”

For further information and general enquiries, call MPI on 0800 00 83 33 or email info@mpi.govt.nz

For media enquiries, contact the media team on 029 894 0328.

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Cabinet paper CAB-23-SUB-0465: Order in Council – Increase in Working for Families tax credit rates

Source: Inland Revenue Department –

Cabinet paper and supporting documents covering the order in council adjusting the family tax credit and best start tax credit rates in line with inflation.

Documents in this information release
  1. IR2023-267 – Policy report: Order in Council – CPI indexation of Family Tax Credit and Best Start Tax Credit (28 November 2023) (7 pages)
  2. CAB-23-SUB-0465 – Cabinet paper: Order in Council – Increase in Working for Families tax credit rates (29 November 2023) (4 pages)
  3. CAB-23-MIN-0465 – Minute: Order in Council – Increase in Working for Families tax credit rates (29 November 2023) (1 page)
Additional information

The Cabinet paper was considered and confirmed by Cabinet on 29 November 2023.

One attachment to the Cabinet paper is not included in this information release as it is publicly available:
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Apprentice builder killed by falling framing

Source: Worksafe New Zealand

The death of a teenager on a Bay of Plenty building site is yet another example of why the construction sector needs to up its game, WorkSafe New Zealand says.

Ethan Perham-Turner was killed when timber framing weighing 350 kilograms fell on him at a residential building site in Ōmokoroa in March 2022. The 19-year-old was just four months into an apprenticeship with Inspire Building Limited at the time.

Ethan Perham-Turner

A WorkSafe investigation found the risk was heightened by the framing being manually installed around the site, and a temporary support brace being removed just prior to the fatal incident. When one frame knocked another, it fell on the teenage apprentice.

Inspire was providing building labour for the main contractor, Thorne Group. Both were charged for health and safety failures in relation to the death. The businesses should have consulted each other on the framing installation plan, and ensured a mechanical aid (such as a Hiab crane truck) was used.

“The death of a worker so young is an indictment on the construction sector. Ethan was new to the job, and new to the task of manoeuvring framing. He should have been provided with what he needed to be safe,” says WorkSafe’s area investigation manager, Paul West.

“The safest way would have been to mechanically lift the framing into place, given its weight. This can come at little to no extra cost. In this case, the supplier delivering the framing had a Hiab and could have lifted it into place if asked.

“The high number of deaths and injuries tell us construction is a very dangerous industry. WorkSafe has seen other similar incidents where workers handling large or heavy frames have been paralysed or killed. It is unacceptable that companies are not identifying the risks and providing workers with a safe workplace. We can only hope the death of a very young apprentice might motivate the step change required to improve the sector’s health and safety performance,” says Paul West.

Read our 2019 safety alert on installing frames

Background

  • Inspire Building Limited and Thorne Group B.O.P Limited were sentenced at Tauranga District Court on 31 January 2024
  • Inspire Building was only fined $30,000 due to financial incapacity, and Thorne Group was fined $210,000. Reparations of $130,000 were ordered to be paid to Ethan Perham-Turner’s family, and $15,072 to his co-worker – a fellow apprentice.
  • Both entities were charged under sections 36(1)(a), s 48(1) and (2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
    • Being a PCBU having a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers who work for the PCBU, including Ethan Thomas Perham-Turner, while the workers were at work in the business or undertaking, namely erecting prefabricated timber frames, did fail to comply with that duty, and that failure exposed workers to a risk of death or serious injury.
  • The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $1.5 million.

Media contact details

For more information you can contact our Media Team using our media request form. Alternatively, you can:

Phone: 021 823 007 or

Email: media@worksafe.govt.nz

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Proposed measures to manage phytoplasmas on ornamental plants for planting – Importation of Nursery Stock (155.02.06)

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

Background to this consultation

We are seeking feedback on proposed changes to the Importation of Nursery Stock (155.02.06) standard to manage the risk of phytoplasmas on imported ornamental plants for planting (nursery stock). Phytoplasmas can cause disease in many plant species, so they are a pest of concern to New Zealand.

Our consultation document explains how the proposed changes manage the risk of phytoplasmas and asks for feedback on these proposed changes. After we have received all your feedback and finalised the changes, we will send out a draft of the amended import health standard for you to read and give feedback on again.

Have your say

From 30 January to 12 March 2024, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) invites comments on the proposed measures and subsequent changes to the import health standard.

Full details of the proposed changes are in the consultation document.

We are particularly interested in feedback on the following questions:

  1. Are our proposed measures feasible? If not, why and which other measures would you propose?
  2. Do you foresee any consequences of these measures that we have not addressed in this proposal? If so, which ones?
  3. Is there a risk we have not considered? If so, which one? Provide scientific evidence to support your answer so we can review it.
  4. Is there any other information you think we should consider before we draft the changes to the standard?

Consultation document

 Proposed measures to manage phytoplasmas on ornamental plants for planting – Importation of Nursery Stock IHS (155.02.06) [PDF, 770 KB]

Making your submission

Email your feedback on the draft by 5pm on 12 March 2024 to PlantImports@mpi.govt.nz

Make sure you include in your submission:

  • the title of the consultation document in the subject line of your email
  • your name and title (if applicable)
  • your organisation’s name (if you’re submitting on behalf of an organisation)
  • your contact details (for example, phone number, address, and email).

While we prefer email, you can send your submission by post to:

Plant Germplasm Imports
Ministry for Primary Industries
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140
New Zealand.

All submissions received by the closing date will be considered before the amended import health standard (IHS) is drafted. MPI may hold late submissions on file for consideration when the issued IHS is next revised or reviewed.

Next steps

After we have considered all submissions, we will draft the IHS and open a second consultation so you can provide your feedback again before we publish it.   

Find out more about the process of developing an IHS

Legal background

MPI must consult with interested parties in accordance with section 23 of the Biosecurity Act 1993 (the Act) and MPI’s consultation policy before issuing or amending (other than of minor or urgent nature) import health standards (IHS) under sections 24A and 24B of the Act.

An IHS specifies import requirements that must be met either in the country of origin or of export, or during transit, before biosecurity clearance can be given for the goods to enter New Zealand. MPI must ensure that these requirements are technically justified and provide an appropriate level of biosecurity protection.

Find out more

Steps to importing nursery stock

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No place for corner cutting when felling trees

Source: Worksafe New Zealand

A business owner who put motorists at risk when felling trees has been criticised for his ‘dismissive attitude’ toward health and safety.

Kevin Howard Stratford, who operates Stratford Logging, was convicted in the Nelson District Court this week.

Over the course of 2021 Mr Stratford carried out tree felling in Takaka Hill at a site directly adjacent to State Highway 60.

WorkSafe was notified in August 2021 by an experienced tree feller that the work was being carried out with disregard for industry standards, in particular that trees were being felled very close to the road with no traffic management in place.

WorkSafe opened an investigation. An independent forestry expert who assisted WorkSafe’s investigation found felling techniques were of ‘very poor quality’, well below industry standards and posed a serious risk to all in the area.

Several trees had been cut in a way which increased the risk of ‘barberchairing’. Barberchairing is an exceptionally dangerous situation where a tree splits vertically from top to bottom before breaking away. Workers on site also didn’t have the relevant qualifications do the work.

Watch a short video showing ‘barberchairing’(external link)

“The way work was done with no warning signage or traffic management put people at great risk, including innocent bystanders driving along the road,” says WorkSafe Regional Manager Juliet Bruce.

“There were steps Mr Stratford should have taken, including not felling trees within two lengths of a public road, putting in place temporary traffic management controls with authorisation of the Road Controlling Authority and ensuring all workers were adequately trained. He was also required to notify WorkSafe before he began tree felling.”

WorkSafe issued Mr Stratford with four Prohibition Notices and 28 Improvement Notices since 2013 in relation to unsafe tree felling, failing to notify of tree felling work, workers having inadequate qualifications and having an insufficient health and safety system. Mr Stratford was also convicted in 1998 for failing to ensure the safety of an employee.

“There has been a huge amount of enforcement action against Mr Stratford to motivate him to keep people safe, but he persisted in his poor practices and the only option left for WorkSafe was to prosecute,” says Ms Bruce.

In sentencing Mr Stratford, Judge Jo Rielly was critical of his ‘dismissive attitude’, commenting ‘you are a person who has put your concerns around financial costs involved in completing work ahead of important safety considerations’.

WorkSafe has several pieces of guidance on its website related to tree felling:

Read more about WorkSafe prosecutions

Background

  • Kevin Howard Stratford was sentenced at Nelson District Court on 23 January 2024.
  • A fine of $56,000 was imposed.
  • Kevin Howard Stratford was charged under sections 36(2) and 48(1) and (2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015;
    • Being a PCBU, failed to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the health and safety of other persons, was not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking.
  • The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $1.5 million.

Media contact details

For more information you can contact our Media Team using our media request form. Alternatively, you can:

Phone: 021 823 007 or

Email: media@worksafe.govt.nz

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Public health warning: shellfish biotoxin alert removed for east coast of North Island but lobster warning remains in place

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

New Zealand Food Safety has lifted the public health warning advising against collecting shellfish on the east coast of the North Island, from Cape Runaway to Wairoa River mouth. However, the public health warning remains in place for lobster caught between Hicks Bay and Mahanga Beach near Mahia.

“Our testing of shellfish has established that concerning levels of paralytic shellfish toxin on the east coast of the North Island have dropped to safe limits again,” says New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle.

“However, lobster samples from near Gisborne and Tokomaru Bay taken by the Rock Lobster Industry Council are still coming back over the limit. Paralytic shellfish toxins can accumulate in the gut and intestine of lobster, but not the tail and leg meat. So, if you are wanting to eat lobster caught between Hicks Bay and Mahanga Beach, our advice is to not eat the gut contents. Remove the gut (mustard and intestinal cord in the tail) before cooking because the toxins can spread into the flesh during the cooking process.

“Rock lobster available for sale at supermarkets or retail outlets is not affected.

“It’s great news that people on the East Coast will again be able to gather and enjoy most kaimoana safely.”

The warning was first issued on 12 October 2023 after routine New Zealand Food Safety testing and was extended along the coastline after follow-up tests showed biotoxins levels up to 12 times the safe limit in some areas.

See a map of the East Coast lobster warning

“Public health warnings are an important mechanism in our food safety system here in Aotearoa – it’s how we spread the word about toxins in shellfish to help prevent people getting sick,” says Mr Arbuckle.

“These toxins can cause serious illness if you eat affected shellfish, especially in children and in the elderly. Importantly, cooking does not remove the toxin.”

Paralytic shellfish poisoning can cause numbness and a tingling (prickly feeling) around the mouth, face, hands, and feet, difficulty swallowing or breathing, dizziness and headache, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, paralysis and respiratory failure and, in severe cases, death.

“Thankfully, we received no notification of associated illness.

“But, as you keep enjoying collecting kaimoana over the summer, please do look out for our public health warnings at the beach, or you can sign up to get our shellfish biotoxin alerts directly through the MPI website. You can also check our Shellfish biotoxin alert webpage.

“We also have the NZ Fishing Rules mobile app, which is a great companion for fishers, and includes information about biotoxin warnings.”

Find out more about how to safely gather and consume shellfish

For more information, email NZFoodSafety_media@mpi.govt.nz

Find out more

See signage in the affected area.

Shellfish biotoxin alerts

Subscribe to shellfish biotoxins to receive email alerts

Collecting shellfish and keeping them safe [PDF, 1.4 MB]

Causes and symptoms of toxic shellfish poisoning

About toxic algal blooms

Food safety for seafood gatherers booklet [PDF, 1.2 MB]

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Second notice of an application for a mātaitai reserve at Orari, South Canterbury

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries

Your views sought

Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua has applied for a mātaitai reserve at Orari, South Canterbury.

Fisheries New Zealand invites submissions from people who take fish, aquatic life, or seaweed or own quota, and whose ability to take fish, aquatic life, or seaweed or whose ownership interest in quota may be affected by the proposed mātaitai reserve.

Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua and Fisheries New Zealand have previously consulted the local community on the application.

Find out about the first consultation with the local community (closed 7/08/2023)

What’s being proposed?

The proposed area includes the lower reaches of the Orari River, Coopers Creek and Ohapi Creek, east of State Highway 1 at Temuka, South Canterbury, and the adjoining streams, creeks and bodies of water within a defined boundary.

Map and application document

Map of the proposed Orari Mātaitai Reserve [PDF, 11 MB]

Application from Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua for the Orari Mātaitai Reserve [PDF, 604 KB]

Making your submission

Submissions close at 5pm on Wednesday 6 March 2024

Email your submission to FMSubmissions@mpi.govt.nz

While we prefer email, you can post your submission to:

Fisheries Management – Spatial Allocations
Fisheries New Zealand
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140.

Public notices about this consultation

Public notices about the call for submissions are scheduled to appear in the Christchurch Press and the Timaru Herald on Wednesday 24 January 2024.

About mātaitai reserves

A mātaitai reserve is an identified traditional fishing ground which tangata whenua have a special relationship with. Mātaitai reserves are limited to fisheries waters and do not include any land area. Mātaitai reserves do not change any existing arrangements for access to private land.

Mātaitai reserves also do not affect private landowners’ land titles, or their ability to exercise resource consents for such things as taking water or extracting gravel or sand. Resource consents are managed under the Resource Management Act 1991.

Mātaitai reserves do not change the existing recreational fishing rules. However, commercial fishing is banned in a mātaitai reserve.

Mātaitai reserves do not have an impact on whitebait or trout fishing.

Find out more about mātaitai reserves

Fisheries (South Island Customary Fishing) Regulations 1999 – NZ Legislation