Whanganui's Terri Coopland, of Mars Petcare, named health and safety practitioner of the year

Health and safety practitioner of the year award winner Terri Coopland with New Zealand Institute of Safety Management national manager Greg Dearsly.

Developing a system that reminds workers to think first before rushing in has netted Whanganui's Terri Coopland a national health and safety award.

Coopland, who is health and safety manager at Mars Petcare in Whanganui, won the New Zealand Institute of Safety Management's health and safety practitioner of the year award at the Workplace Health and Safety Awards 2018.

The Take 2 system she developed is based on different lengths of time it takes to stop and think about an action, check instructions, assess a task, implement controls and change a process. The system has led to a reduction of more than 50 per cent in injuries in two years.

"It reminds anyone on site, before doing a job, to stop and think before you dive in and was designed mainly for breakdowns in the factory," Coopland said.

"It's more important to do it safely than to rush in to get things back up and running. Think whether you have the knowledge and equipment to do it so you have everything together before you start doing the job.

"Time isn't the key factor. Don't put yourself at risk."

Coopland believes the system could be applied more widely than the workplace and has had some discussions with ACC and Safer Whanganui about how it could be used elsewhere.

She said it was important to focus on people first "then the systems fall into place".

"I don't do health and safety from behind my desk - I'm out there on the floor and we train in-house safety reps for each shift so they can apply the systems," she said.

"It's not just about compliance with the health and safety regulations. For me, it's looking after people the right way and making sure they are safe. If you do that properly, then you will be complying anyway."

Coopland's commitment to improving health and safety standards led to her being appointed chair of the New Zealand Institute of Safety Management Grading Committee in 2016. The committee develops standards and assesses applications for health and safety practitioner gradings from around New Zealand.