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Changing the guard
For a long time, health and safety has been treated like a guarded secret – something complex, mysterious, and accessible only to a select few. Whole careers have been built on being “the only one who understands it,” with organisations leaning heavily on individuals rather than building shared capability. That era is ending. From Gatekeeping…
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Skin deep
When Management Commitment to H&S Is Nothing More Than a Makeover There’s a version of “commitment to health and safety” that looks fantastic on the surface. And yet – workers are still getting hurt, still going unheard, still carrying the emotional load of risks that leadership refuses to look at properly. Because in too many…
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Shady Origins
The Dark History Behind Modern Health & Safety – And Why It Still Matters Health and Safety didn’t emerge because governments suddenly cared about workers.It wasn’t born out of compassion or enlightened leadership. It was born out of exploitation, disaster, and the cold economic reality that losing workers – repeatedly, publicly, and preventably – eventually…
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Women in Health and Safety
The History, the Hangover, and the Path Forward Women weren’t “allowed” into most workplaces until shockingly recently.Not because they lacked capability – but because society decided their place was somewhere else. And when women were finally allowed in, they entered systems built by men, for men, around men, with rules, norms, and behaviours shaped long…
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Carrot vs. Stick
Why Neither Works Without the One Thing NZ Workplaces Keep Ignoring Every workplace wants people to “do the right thing”. Follow the rules. Adopt new processes. Stop taking shortcuts. Use the controls. Report early. Speak up. And the classic debate always comes out: Do we motivate people with the carrot or the stick? Rewards or…
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De-escalation strategies
Strategies That Actually Work – And the Ones That Make Everything Worse Most workplaces treat de‑escalation like a soft skill. A “nice to have”. Something you learn in a 20‑minute online module and then magically apply in a crisis. But real de‑escalation is a risk control. It’s a critical skill. And when done well, it…
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Aggression and violence
The Risks We See – and the Ones We Pretend Not To Workplace violence isn’t just a “security issue”. It’s a health and safety risk – and one that’s rising across New Zealand and globally. And it’s not just fists, threats, or screaming customers. Some of the most harmful violence is quiet, subtle, and delivered…