Source: Worksafe New Zealand
Recently, we visited a panel beater in Hamilton that was operating with some poor practices. Our inspector Thomas worked with the business owners to make some changes.
“They’ve made positive changes, including small, low-cost ones such as changing where they work to be more in the open air, how they store the paints and chemicals, and protecting power points and exposed power supplies from being potential sources of ignition,” said Thomas.
We’re grateful that the business owners were honest about what their knowledge gaps were and open to working with us to make their work safer.
We’re not always going to visit a business and demand major, high-cost changes. Often, you can improve the safety of a business with a few small, targeted changes. Part of what our inspectors do is offer their expertise to work with businesses to make improvements.
We know it can be daunting when we visit your business but at the end of the day, we all have the same goal – to make sure you make it home safely from work.
“They really want this business to be a success and as part of that they really want to look after their own health and safety. It’s a really great result.”