Staying Safe After an Earthquake  - Site Safe is offering free health and safety advice to help Canterbury members following Saturday's earthquake

Taxation - GST increase

Graduation Event Reminder - September 23

Site Safe's annual graduation event is a great night to catch up with colleagues, acknowledge the industry's graduates, and enjoy a few drinks, a good dinner and a lot of laughs with some fine New Zealand entertainment.

To find out more about the event, purchase tickets, or to consider sponsorship opportunities…

Wellington, July 22 NZPA - The Labour Department is reminding employers to be vigilant when identifying possible employee hazards in the workplace.

A company was ordered to pay a fine of $39,000 and reparation of $10,000 for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure an employee was not exposed to hazards.

The new Electrical Safety Regulations have come in effect from April 1 ^st 2010. This means that the AS/NZS 3000/2007 standard, including amendment 1, commonly known as the Wiring Rules have been cited and is also in effect from April 1 ^st .

New Zealand companies have been given a timely reminder to be more aware of the dangers surrounding working in confined space. The recent confined space accident took place on board a log carrier at Marsden Point in Northland, where two men suffocated due to a lack of oxygen and a third man who was critically ill as a result was air-lifted to hospital.

It has been estimated that performing a task inside a confined space is 150 times more hazardous than doing the same job outside of a confined space.

A project completed in 2009 at the NZ Oil Services Ltd ( NZOSL) Seaview Terminal in Lower Hutt was a classic demonstration of the importance of planning as the most effective means of controlling falls from height. A section of the roof was deemed un-fit for purpose and required replacing. The project presented a number of safety risks, one of the most significant of these being working at height in close proximity to the roof edge.

The main goals of licensing are to update and simplify the regulation of building work while still ensuring quality.

What work will be restricted to LBPs to do or supervise? From March 2012 ‘restricted building work' under the Building Act will mean work that is critical to the integrity of the structure of a house or a small-medium apartment building.

If you are one of the above, then don’t forget that certain Site Safe courses can also gain you credit towards your own sectors’ Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes

After extensive public consultation, the Department of Labour (DoL) has recently issued the third edition of the Approved Code of Practice for Cranes which came into effect on 7 January 2010. The complete document is available on the EoL website at www.osh.govt.nz/order/catalogue/10.shtml

Prosecutions featured continue an unfortunate theme for our industry - falls from height resulting in significant injuries and significant fines.

Congratulations go to the following five people who won the draw for a $100 MTA voucher.