Verification New Zealand Limited

Injury Prevention — Health & Safety In New Zealand the health & safety area is dominated by OSH, the Health & Safety in Employment Act and the threat of prosecution. While employers need to comply, the Act itself does not provide a good guide on how to achieve compliance. Nor does the Act provide guidance on the implementation of best practice in health and safety. Current best practice is to focus on injury prevention. The aim is to build systems and a culture that drives continual improvement. There are two basic approaches: one of the ACC schemes; or NZS4801. ACC ACC cover all businesses in New Zealand, providing workplace insurance and other services under the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation & Compensation Act 2001. In order to both promote injury prevention and to reward success, ACC have developed some incentive programmes. More information can be obtained from ACC on www.acc.co.nz. In summary the programmes are as follows; PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME Aimed at larger organisations that have the financial backing and the recourses to take over some or all of the management of workplace injuries. An annual audit against the ACC audit standards for Safety Management Practices and Injury Management is required. Verification New Zealand Ltd has four auditors on the panel, with extensive experience in auditing for the Partnership Programme. Application is through ACC. Once you have been accepted into the programme call us and we will carry out the audit on behalf of ACC. Note that ACC make the final decisions regarding the programme and your participation in it. WSMP Specifically aimed at businesses with $10,000 annual ACC premiums and above, but all business may apply. Following a successful audit, businesses will be eligible for a 10%, 15% or 20% discount off their workplace ACC premiums. Contact ACC (www.acc.co.nz) or your local ACC office. Get a copy of the WSMP criteria or download from the ACC website. Apply to ACC. Once you are accepted, contact us to carry out your audit. Verification New Zealand Ltd has five auditors on the panel to carry out WSMP audits. Audits are normally carried out every two years. You need to reapply each time. ACC will decide whether or not you have passed. ACC will pay the full cost of the audit plus the cost of a pre-assessment by their injury prevention consultants if you wish. ACC will select the sites to be audited SMALL EMPLOYER SCHEME For smaller business, where less structure and formality is needed, ACC have developed a new scheme for these smaller businesses. Contact ACC (www.acc.co.nz) or your local ACC office. Get a copy of the Small Employer Scheme criteria or download from the website. Apply to ACC. Once you are accepted and ACC require you to be audited, contact us. Verification New Zealand Ltd has five auditors on the panel to carry out Small Employer Scheme audits. ACC will require a percentage of businesses in the scheme to be audited each year. When you are advised you need an audit, contact us. ACC will pay the full cost of the audit. ACC will select the sites to be audited. AS/NZS 4801 While the ACC audits are based on AS/NZS 4801 they do not meet all the requirements of the standard and have added other things in as well. Businesses wishing to be seen to meet internationally accepted standards of best practice in health & safety management should consider this standard as well as or instead of the relevant ACC programme. The focus of the standard is on maintaining best practice in an environment where the benchmark for best practice keeps increasing. Rigorous analysis of hazards is the start followed by the planning for implementation of a continual improvement programme. TO GET CERTIFIED TO AS/NZS 4801 FOLLOW THESE STEPS Step 1. Contact us. We will come and see you or send out an application form. Complete the form and send it back. Step 2. An auditor will be assigned to you based on the relevance of their industry background to your business. They will make contact to discuss your needs and perhaps make a pre-assessment visit. Step 3. An auditor will be assigned to you based on the relevance of their industry background to your business. They will make contact to discuss your needs and perhaps make a pre-assessment visit. Step 3. Once your procedures have been completed your auditor will complete a document review of your systems against the standard. This gap analysis is intended to make sure the system you have written complies with the standard and covers all of your business processes. Step 4. An onsite audit will be completed. This will involve a review of actual implementation of your system. The time required depends on the size of the company, the number of sites and the degree of technical complexity. Step 5. Clearance of non-conformances raised at the audit. This may require an additional visit but it usually doesn't. Step 6. Once the audit process is complete, a decision on whether to certify you is made. You will then be offered certification, usually subject to accepting some standard terms and conditions. Step 7. At periods from 3 - 12 months thereafter (depending on performance and preference) you will be subject to review or surveillance audits and then a full reassessment at about the third anniversary of your certification.