Governance gap slowing down work health and safety progress, report finds

New Zealand is struggling with a "lack of understanding of effective governance" on work health and safety, which may be holding back the country's safety culture maturity, according to a new report.

Data from Safe 365 revealed that New Zealand only scored 48% in maturity for director knowledge and 46.3% for manager knowledge of risk management practice and industry-specific safety landscapes.

It indicates "significant leadership failures at governance and executive management levels" that are likely contributing to New Zealand's inability to reduce workplace incident rates.

"Nobody is questioning the best intentions of senior leadership, nor are we suggesting indifference, but rather a lack of understanding of effective governance of work health, safety and well-being," said Nathan Hight, co-founder and managing director of Safe365, in a statement.

According to Hight, there is a systemic issue with the level of director knowledge regarding good governance in workplaces.

What can organisations do for health and safety?

The manager, however, noted that solutions for these issues are not complex: "Directors need to be equipped with the knowledge to ask good questions that check and challenge senior management, and to exercise visible leadership on health, safety, and well-being within the business and, importantly, possess a willingness to address and solve these problems."

He added that it is critical for directors and senior leaders to have visibility on effective insights, such as risk assessments, incident reporting, compliance monitoring, and safety audits, which can help offer oversight needed to improve workplace risk management.

The managing director also pointed out issues on how organisations view compliance requirements.

"There is a prevalent assumption that meeting legal compliance obligations with health and safety regulation equates to safe outcomes for workers," he said. "Company directors and senior management need to realise that regulatory compliance represents the minimum viable threshold and does not necessarily reflect a comprehensive safety picture."

Investing on training and developing directors, senior management, and safety professionals is important to help them look beyond compliance requirements and strive for excellence in leadership and accountability, according to Hight.

"This report is a reminder that a true safety culture goes beyond compliance and requires a commitment to continuous improvement and excellence in leadership, accountability, and organisation-wide engagement in safety outcomes, leading to reduced harm and improved overall business performance," he said.