Plan launched to tackle workplace accidents

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A plan to slash the number of work deaths and injuries in the manufacturing industry has been launched by the Government.

Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson today (Tue) outlined details of the plan, which is a cooperative agreement between the Government and the sector to target the most significant contributors to workplace accidents.

It includes establishing safer standards for machinery, promoting safer use of vehicles such as forklifts, and identifying emerging workplace problems.

"There is no room for complacency when it comes to health and safety. For anyone to be unable to return home to their friends and family after a day at work is unacceptable," Ms Wilkinson said.

"If we're to make a difference to the work toll, then everyone - employers, employees, unions, business groups and sector organisations - must take responsibility for creating safe and healthy workplaces."

Ms Wilkinson said youth, older people, Maori and Pacific people, and those with low literacy or numeracy skills were over-represented in the manufacturing injury and fatality statistics, and improving standards for these groups would also be a focus of the plan.

Manufacturing has one of the highest rates of serious injury to workers, with 107 deaths in the sector recorded by ACC between 2002 and 2009.

ACC claims from the sector during 2009-10 were for more than $124 million - almost 20 per cent of the total claims cost for New Zealand.

The Labour Department recorded three deaths in the manufacturing sector last year, including a 61-year-old man who fell from logs in Rotorua on July 4, a 42-year-old Auckland man who was electrocuted on August 12, and a 44-year-old who was found unresponsive at his work in Auckland in December.