Stewart Barbara: Health and Safety Reform Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeStewart Barbara: Health and Safety Reform Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 13 March 2014. Volume:697;Page:16714. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BARBARA STEWART (NZ First):I am very pleased to take a call on the Health and Safety Reform Bill on behalf of New Zealand First. New Zealand First will be supporting the bill. It is a very important bill. It is a substantive piece of legislation and a positive step forward. We understand that it is part of a wider range of reforms. We support the general focus of the bill—all improvements to health and safety in New Zealand workplaces are always welcome. It is timely to replace the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. After all it is over 10 years old and a lot has happened in the intervening years particularly when we review that legislation after the Pike River tragedy.Employees—and their families of course—need to be as sure as they possibly can be that their workplaces are safe and that they are going to return home safely each day. This is not something that legislation can achieve by itself. Business has a large role to play. So it is welcoming to see that there is a strong theme of consultation right throughout this legislation. Employers must consult with workers and workers are encouraged to be active in all aspects of health and safety in their workplaces. Of course this is particularly important in risky areas like forestry and mining.The bill does appear to contain a number of potential challenges for employers. At the select committee consideration it is to be hoped that these challenges are talked through so that there is a better outcome for both parties. One example relates to workgroups and the PCBU the person conducting a business or undertaking. What is to happen when work groups are scattered as they are in the forest industry?We are also pleased to see the focus again on health and safety reps. Health and safety representatives have been around for a number of years and I know personally that a lot of effort went into setting up that system in our workplaces. More of the same is not going to improve health and safety in workplaces. Training too is an essential element. It is vital that companies include all employees middle and senior managers as well in workplace safety—something that has not had the emphasis that it could have had previously.The bill also includes a new concept: a person conducting a business or undertaking. This means that the company’s officers and directors must step up their individual and corporate activities to ensure that the safety of workers and all others in the workplace is a focus. In New Zealand First we are delighted to see the role of inspectors returning to the workplace. They have a very important role they always have and we welcome their return. It is vitally important that inspectors achieve the health and safety rules and regulations that are vital in the workplace and ensure there is compliance with the industry code. Workplace inspectors have always helped with safety in the workplace.So overall we are very pleased to see a far more inclusive bill and it appears that there will be far more consultation and some oversight of the workplace by our inspectors. This bill is important and deserves to be treated as such. In New Zealand First we would support this bill being passed through the House prior to the election so that in the intervening period work can begin on drawing up the regulations that are specified in the bill. We are seeing an increase—not an improvement—in forestry worker accidents so we know that our health and safety regulations do need to be improved. The bill will incorporate all aspects of the workforce more but we believe that some emphasis does need to be taken off the health and safety reps and actually put on to individual managers. We welcome the fact that when an offence is committed there will be a harsher penalty. We need to do this. We agree with the requirements for WorkSafe New Zealand and ACC to consult on injury prevention initiatives. New Zealand First welcomes this bill and hopes that it has a speedy passage through the House. A safe workplace is good for everyone.