HSRs make a positive difference for the health and safety of kaimahi in workplaces across Aotearoa.
Meet Colin Grace, a health and safety representative for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in Christchurch.
Colin was nominated by a teammate who spoke highly of his passion for fairness and problem solving at work.
We visited Colin in November 2022 to hear about his experience as an HSR.
Transcript:
I'm Colin Grace, I'm an engineer for NIWA and I'm also a health and safety rep.
I work in the field, there's the measurements, load testing that sort of thing.
On other days it's the analysis of that information, it's checking against historical records,
it's calculating strengths, calculating sags, and just checking that everything's as it should be. I've been an HSR for about 15 years - really from an accident that I had before I joined NIWA.
I was working on a building site, had that accident and that focused my mind a wee bit on just what important things are. Also, how easy it would have been to prevent that.
An HSR is what the name says: it's a health and safety representative so, you're representing a group of people in health and safety, in safety processes, and just welfare and wellbeing.
NIWA is very supportive. Talking with other reps is absolutely essential, talking with staff - you're representing staff, so you've always got to check with staff. Is this something that you want to happen, is this going to make you safe?
I'm really looking forward to a good relationship with WorkSafe, because I'm familiar with their dedication to safety. Safety reps and safety engagement is something which goes across all of that,
so if you can improve the situation 50% on everything, that's a huge win. So, for WorkSafe to get involved in this, it's absolutely brilliant.
29 июл 2024
