Health & Safety
Top Compliance Risks for Businesses in 2025 and How to Address Them
In today’s fast-changing technological and regulatory environments, compliance risks for businesses are significant. Businesses face increasing scrutiny from regulators, customers, and other stakeholders to meet legal obligations and uphold best practices. As 2025 unfolds, here are the top compliance risks businesses need to be aware of—and strategies to address them effectively.
1. Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
With the growing prevalence of data breaches and stricter privacy laws, data protection strategies are non-negotiable for all businesses. Laws like the Privacy Act 2020 and global regulations such as the GDPR are evolving, placing higher demands on businesses to safeguard customer and employee data.
How to Address It:
- Conduct regular audits of your data handling processes.
- Implement robust cybersecurity measures, such as encryption and multi-factor authentication.
- Provide training for staff/kaimahi on data privacy and security protocols.
- Ensure your policies reflect the latest regulatory requirements and technological advancements.
2. Workplace Health and Safety Compliance
Health and safety remain top priorities, with regulators closely monitoring workplace standards. This includes ensuring compliance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, particularly for higher-risk industries. Our Health and Safety regulatory system including the Health and Safety Act is currently being reviewed. The review may result in changes affecting your policies and processes.
How to Address It:
- Regularly review and update your health and safety policies and processes.
- Engage kaimahi/staff in health and safety training and drills.
- Stay informed about the Health and Safety Review and industry-specific guidelines and best practices.
3. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Obligations
ESG compliance is no longer optional. Stakeholders demand transparency about how businesses impact the environment and society and stakeholder accountability. We all play a vital part in reducing emissions, waste management, and sustainable practices and organisations across every sector have responsibilities.
How to Address It:
- Create or update your ESG policies to align with current regulations and industry standards.
- Prevent harm to current and future generations
- Recognise that business assets and profitability rest, in the long run, on environment, social and cultural respect.
- Monitor your environmental impact and sustainable practice.
- Communicate ESG efforts to stakeholders, showcasing accountability and progress.
4. Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism
Financial regulations require businesses to identify and mitigate risks related to money laundering and terrorism financing. Non-compliance can lead to severe penalties and reputational damage.
How to Address It:
- Ensure your policies comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.
- Implement robust customer due diligence processes.
- Train kaimahi/staff on identifying suspicious activity and reporting obligations.
5. Employment Law Compliance
Employment law violations, such as failing to meet wage and holiday requirements or mishandling workplace disputes, can result in costly penalties and harm to workplace morale. Recent and proposed changes in Aotearoa to employment law relating to employment status, the minimum wage and personal grievances highlight the importance of staying current.
How to Address It:
- Review workplace policies regularly and employment agreements to ensure agreements align.
- Ensure all your kaimahi/staff are familiar with your policies and procedures and kept informed about changes.
- Provide training to all management levels on fair treatment and dispute resolution.
- Monitor updates to employment legislation and ensure your policies are kept current.
6. Consumer Protection and Marketing Compliance
Misleading advertising, false claims, or breaches of the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 can lead to legal action and loss of consumer trust.
How to Address It:
- Ensure marketing materials comply with advertising standards and consumer laws.
- Train staff on ethical sales practices and accurate representation of products or services.
- Monitor feedback channels to identify and address consumer complaints promptly.
How We Can Help
Keeping up with regulatory changes can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. Our policy management service takes the guesswork out of compliance. We provide:
- Policy content updated to reflect the latest laws and standards.
- Tools to track staff awareness and adherence to policies.
- Regular policy reviews to ensure your business remains compliant.
By outsourcing your policy management, you save time, reduce risks, and gain peace of mind knowing your policies are always current and compliant.
Final Thoughts
Compliance risks are an ever-present challenge for businesses, but they’re manageable with the right approach. By staying proactive and partnering with experts, you can protect your business, maintain trust, and focus on growth in 2025 and beyond.
Contact us today to learn how we can support your compliance needs!
Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults: How Organisations Can Act on the Royal Commission’s Findings
In light of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, the urgent need for systemic change is clear. The harrowing stories shared by abuse survivors highlight critical gaps in safeguarding policies that must be addressed. Organisations in Aotearoa now have an unprecedented opportunity to protect vulnerable individuals by implementing robust safeguarding measures, ensuring abuse, exploitation, and neglect are prevented and addressed effectively.
At The Policy Place Ltd, we have recently reviewed and updated Abuse and Protection policies for our online clients to respond to the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care (“Royal Commission”) and Te Aorerekura National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence. In our last post, we discussed how our policies align with the National Strategy. This post focuses on the “why” and “what” of coverage for a policy on safeguarding vulnerable adults.
Key Findings from the Royal Commission
The Royal Commission’s final report, Whanaketia – Through Pain and Trauma, From Darkness to Light, reveals the systemic failures that allowed pervasive abuse and neglect in state and faith-based care from 1950 to 1999. Nearly 3,000 survivors shared their experiences, underscoring the urgency for change.
Factors that Enabled Abuse:
- Lack of Oversight: Insufficient monitoring and accountability within care institutions allowed abuse to go unchecked.
- Power Imbalances: Significant power disparities made it difficult for victims to speak out or be believed.
- Cultural and Systemic Discrimination: Discrimination against Māori, Pacific Peoples, Deaf people, disabled people, and those experiencing mental distress contributed to vulnerability.
- Inadequate Training and Resources: Caregivers often lacked the skills and knowledge to recognise and address abuse.
- Isolation of Victims: Many victims were cut off from family and community, increasing their susceptibility to abuse.
Why Safeguarding Policies Are Crucial Today
The findings of the Royal Commission are not only of historical importance; they offer vital lessons for how care is provided today. Safeguarding policies must reflect these lessons to protect disabled people, kaumātua, and other vulnerable adults who rely on care and support services.
Vulnerability in Care Relationships
Those who depend on others for support face heightened risks due to:
- Dependency Risks: Reliance on caregivers for basic needs creates power imbalances that can be exploited.
- Communication Barriers: Disabilities and mental health challenges can hinder reporting and recognising abuse.
- Isolation: Being cut off from support networks makes individuals more susceptible to exploitation.
- Cultural and Economic Influences: Marginalised communities often face additional barriers to seeking help.
- Incompetency in Care Settings: Staff may lack awareness and skills to address abuse effectively.
Guiding Principles for Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults
The Royal Commission proposed principles that organisations can embed in safeguarding policies to prevent abuse:
- Diligent and Skilful Care: Provide care with professionalism and competence.
- Safe and Insightful Care: Tailor care to individual needs and circumstances, including proactive risk assessments.
- Caring and Compassionate Relationships: Foster trust and encourage open communication.
- Empowering and Timely Support: Empower individuals to understand their rights and access support.
- Mana-Enhancing: Recognise and uphold the dignity (mana) and wellbeing (mauri) of every person.
- Person-Centred: Build care strategies around each person’s unique strengths and needs.
- Participation and Voice: Support individuals to participate in decisions that affect them.
- Prevention and Safety: Implement diverse prevention strategies and awareness initiatives.
- Whānau and Community: Involve family, whānau, and community in decision-making.
- Cultural Responsiveness: Ensure responses address cultural needs and preferences.
Practical Safeguarding Procedures
To operationalise these principles, safeguarding policies should include:
- Awareness and Training: Regular training sessions for kaimahi and volunteers on recognising and addressing abuse.
- Proactive Monitoring: Routine checks on care relationships and environments to identify risks early.
- Supportive Culture: Create safe reporting channels, such as in-person, email, or formal complaints systems.
- Empowerment: Equip individuals with knowledge of their rights and self-protection strategies.
- Feedback and Complaints: Encourage feedback and address complaints transparently.
- Continuous Improvement: Use feedback to enhance services and prevent future issues.
Conclusion
Safeguarding policies extend beyond child protection to ensure that the gross abuses of the past are never repeated. By implementing these measures, organisations can provide safe, culturally responsive care that empowers vulnerable adults and upholds their dignity.
At The Policy Place, we have developed a comprehensive Safeguarding policy grounded in the Royal Commission’s recommendations. This policy is now available to all our online policy members and, like all our policies, will be regularly reviewed and updated to stay relevant. Interested in implementing a safeguarding policy? Contact us to learn more.
A Comprehensive Guide: Identifying and Addressing Workplace Stressors
In today’s workplace, you can’t just focus on physical hazards. Psychosocial hazards like work stress, conflicts, harassment and traumatic incidents must also be considered. Mental wellbeing not just physical wellbeing of staff has to be the goal of a supportive workplace.
At the Policy Place, we reflect this focus for members of our online policy service throughout our health and safety policy suite. But policy isn’t enough. Within any organisation or business the first important step to prevent mental harm and injury is to identify psychosocial hazards.
To help with this, we’ve prepared the following Action Plan that is based on the Model of Practice for Managing psychosocial hazards at Work produced by Safe Work Australia. Follow the steps in it and you’ll be able to identify key hazards in your workplace warranting management via your health and safety policy and procedures.
With this information, you’ll then be able to work with your staff to assess and mitigate risks like burnout, high turnover, and psychological harm and achieve a supportive work environment where both morale and productivity are high.
Action Plan: Identifying and Addressing Workplace Stressors
1. Conduct Comprehensive Hazard Identification 🔍
Identify all reasonably foreseeable psychosocial hazards within your business or community service.
2. Recognize Cultural Hazards:
🌐 Consider cultural factors that may contribute to psychosocial hazards, such as organisational norms, cultural diversity, values, messaging and communication styles.
3. Consultation with Workers: 🤝
Engage workers in the hazard identification process, including Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) if applicable.
4. Use Surveys and Tools:
📊 Employ surveys to gather information from staff, HSRs, supervisors, and members of the management team.
4. Observe Work and Behaviors:
👀 Observe the workplace environment, work practices, and interpersonal interactions.
5. Review Available Information:
📋 Review records of injuries, incidents, complaints, workplace inspections, staffing decisions, notes from exit interviews, absenteeism, policies, and more.
6. Identify Trends:
📈 Analyse collected information to identify trends in hazard occurrence (eg retention versus attrition in areas; absenteeism).
7. Establish Reporting Mechanism:
📝 Establish and promote ways for workers to report hazards, ensuring privacy and anonymity where possible.
8. Encourage Reporting:
📣 Address common reasons for underreporting and encourage workers to report hazards through various accessible channels.
9. Act on Reported Hazards:
⚠️ Take reported hazards seriously and implement appropriate control measures.
10. Adapt Reporting Systems Proportionally:
🔄 Tailor reporting systems to the organization’s size and risk profile.
National Adverse Event Policy Commences
The new National Adverse Event Policy commences for Aotearoa/New Zealand on 1 July 2023. It improves on the old one.
Restoration in the National Adverse Event policy?
Key elements of the restorative approach
1. Communication and Support
The National Adverse Event policy highlights the importance of effective communication and support for patients, their families/whānau, and healthcare professionals involved in adverse events. Open and honest communication is crucial to addressing the harm caused and to keeping people informed.
Appropriate and timely support and care is also crucial to assist people to cope with the aftermath of an adverse event. Planning for care is important and may include specialist and community referrals.
2. Learning and Improvement
The restorative approach emphasises the importance of learning from adverse events to prevent their recurrence. Healthcare agencies must review and investigate an event to uncover why and how it occurred and to plan and implement necessary changes to prevent similar incidents in the future. This focus on learning and improvement helps restore trust in the healthcare system by demonstrating a commitment to addressing and preventing harm.
3. Redress and Remedies
Restorative measures aim to redress harm and restore wellbeing. Redress can take many forms. It will depend on the legislative and regulatory framework, the wishes of the person harmed and the nature and circumstances of the harm. An agency’s acknowledgement of harm may be sufficient. An apology for harm and its impacts can mean a lot. Or it may be necessary to arrange for compensation (ACC) and resourcing for ongoing care.
4. Cultural Considerations
The restorative approach recognises that cultural considerations are relevant to how healthcare professionals should engage with people impacted by an adverse event. Māori principles of restorative justice, such as manaakitanga (hospitality), whakawhanaungatanga (building relationships), and whakamana (empowerment) are important.
Conclusion
In Aotearoa/New Zealand, we’ve seen the restorative approach in action in a range of contexts, for example, in the Youth Justice System and criminal sentencing. It has been proven to have many benefits. As a key element of the new National Adverse Event Policy – it will foster a culture of accountability, trust, and learning within the healthcare system.
Check out Te Tāhū Hauora/HQSC website for all the resources it provides to support the implementation of the National policy.
Your workplace vaccination policy and procedure
You might think it’s easy when it comes to requiring staff to get vaccinated. They should be given the choice – jab or job, right?
Wrong. It’s not so simple at all, especially when it comes to vaccinations for existing staff in frontline positions eg health and social service staff.
It’s a balancing act
There’s some important interests like human rights and public health to think about and balance:
- the right to refuse and give informed consent to medical treatment under the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 (sections 10&11); Code of Health and Disability Rights (sections 6 & 7)
- an employer’s obligation to take all due care to provide a safe and healthy workplace
- a worker’s obligation to take reasonable care to avoid causing harm to themselves and others
- the duty on an agency to take reasonable care to avoid causing foreseeable harm to clients, consumers etc.
And, amongst this, community levels of COVID-19 are also relevant and must be considered.
A positive work culture
Good faith and relationships in the workplace are also important to consider. Public debate too easily descends into blaming and name-calling.
You want to avoid to the greatest extent possible division and friction in the workplace about vaccination. The world is divided enough and a positive work culture is integral to retaining staff and achieving good results.
What to cover in your vaccination policy and procedure
See here for our Key Tips for your Workplace Vaccination policy and procedure.
Policy Intent
Another key tip is to be upfront with your policy intent. If you want to encourage vaccination state it, state it at the front or start of your policy. For example, that –
” the organisation supports kaimahi/staff to obtain vaccination as an important way to mitigate risks of infection of COVID 19.”
Likewise, if you’re worried about workplace divide and impact on culture, include it in your intent. As we suggested in Key Tips for your Workplace Vaccination policy and procedure, an important way to show good faith is to get staff input to the development and review of the policy and procedure.
Warning
Warning, ensure your policy requirements are consistent with your intent. If you’re only wanting to encourage vaccination, then stick to that. Don’t venture into mandating vaccination.
Any requirement for vaccination must be justifiable given the risks of a job and an assessment that vaccination as opposed to others measures is the best and safest way of managing those risks. You can’t require vaccination as a way of encouraging it.
Risk assessment
In How your policy and procedure can bridge the vaccination divide we gave some ideas to head off division and disharmony in the workplace in relation to vaccination. A key strategy is to be rational about it.
Your policy and procedure should reflect an objective risk assessment of roles in your workforce. This risk assessment will help justify why vaccination is a requirement for some positions. It will also help you identify roles where vaccination may not be necessary.
Information and support
Where reasonably practicable, support staff to get vaccinated eg time off for them and their dependents to get vaccinated and to recover if there are any after-effects; referral to public health information about vaccination.
Be an open book when it comes to information. Make sure staff are informed about all the issues relating to Covid-19, vaccination and how it’s relevant to their work and whānau.
For staff who are seem more hesitant about vaccination, engage with them in good faith and support them to address their concerns and questions. An in-person or at least one-to-one engagement with the kaimahi/staff member (with the option to invite their whānau) is likely to be most effective.
Check out Key Tips for your Workplace Vaccination policy and procedure for some more ideas about how to support vaccination.
Prove it
Don’t forget to require proof of vaccination in your policy and procedure. Testing regimes have shown the danger of relying on self-reports.
Require the evidence to be kept on file. You are likely to need it if vaccinations are going to be required on a regular or annual basis to be effective.
Address the challenge
Your policy should include a process for kaimahi/staff, who are unable to be vaccinated because of a pre-existing health condition, and for those who refuse vaccination.
You don’t want these staff to hide they are not vaccinated and the risks this brings. So outlining the process and addressing fears like dismissal is important.
Incorporating your Good faith in Employment policy and procedure will be important. The process could involve steps like the following:
- assessment and application of other protections to the relevant staff (eg PPE, masks) for the person to continue in their role in light of the assessed risks (above)
- an agreed change of duties or position where there is less risk
- through to resignation and termination (if unable to adequately address safety risks.)
Get ready
Good news – if you’re a member of our online policy and procedure service, we’ve already got you covered.
If you’re not a member, now’s the time to start on your DIY workplace vaccination policy and procedure. Check out our posts on vaccination and DIY policy and procedure for help.
How your policy and procedure can bridge the vaccination divide
Covid-19 vaccination is going to be the light at the end of the long pandemic tunnel. In Aotearoa/New Zealand we now have a guide about when we are likely to enter the light.
But is it the light? As vaccinations start to roll out, there’s more public debate about the consequences of not getting vaccinated.
Big issues to resolve
Are we now going to be divided by regulations for vaccinated and non-vaccinated people? What about the ethical and social issues involved?
It’s not looking pretty if we’re facing a future of sanctioned “haves” and “have nots”. Yet, a future with more illness and deaths from Covid-19 and the consequent need for more controls and restrictions in the workplace and other areas looks equally dire.
There’s a lot of issues to resolve. Public discussion about social and legal regulation associated with Covid-19 vaccinations is likely to therefore continue for some time.
Workplace issues
Meantime, it’s important that NZ workplaces continue to use pandemic controls. Social distancing and hygiene practices should be adhered to regardless of vaccination status.
It’s also important that workplaces involved in frontline delivery of health and social services get their policies and procedures on vaccination sorted. Last time, we posted some suggestions for what should be covered in your workplace vaccination policy and procedure.
Today, given the prospect of social divides around vaccination, we suggest that another big challenge for your policy and procedure is to address the risks of division and acrimony in the workplace around vaccinations.
Tips
Our 3 tips for your workplace vaccination policy are to:
- take a risk-based approach so that any requirements for vaccination will be justified by reference to likely health effects
- support kaimahi/staff to make their decisions on an informed basis
- communicate with kaimahi/staff from beginning to end about the policy. Be open to feedback and to the possibility of making adjustments and changes as you go along.
There’s enough division in the world already. Workplaces have often been a microcosm of social divides. We need to learn from past mistakes, not repeat them.
So be deliberative with your workplace policy. Yes, prioritise the safety of staff and clients. But don’t forget how important our relationships, social cohesion, and respect for rights are.
Have fun
It’s always a challenge to get the balance right with policies and procedures. But that’s the fun factor of doing policy work for us at the Policy Place (yes we are policy geeks.)
If policy isn’t your thing but you need your workplace vaccination policy done or need all your policies and procedures reviewed and updated, contact us. Choose to be free to focus on what you do best and love and to let us do your policies and procedures.
Key tips for your workplace vaccination policy and procedure
With vaccinations for Covid-19 becoming available, what’s going to be your agency position on it? Do you even need a position?
Important questions, particularly, if you’re a social and health service providing direct care services.
If you think you need an agency position on Covid-19 vaccinations, then it’s time to get cracking on your policy and procedure.
The big issues
There are some important considerations for your policy and procedure including:
- your health and safety duties as an employer or worker
- that a person can’t generally be compelled to have medical treatment
- the right to give informed consent
- likely consequences of exposure given the characteristics of staff in the role
- it is unlawful to discriminate against a person based on disability or health status subject to limited exceptions.
Nuts and bolts
At the Policy Place, we work with social, health, and education agencies to provide online policies and procedures and bespoke policies. We can help you with your vaccination and other policies.
But if you’re into DIY, here are some key questions to think about when developing your policy and procedure on Covid 19 vaccinations for your existing workforce.
Are there any roles for which vaccination is necessary?
In other words, are there roles that, if not vaccinated, would place staff, clients, and others at unacceptable risk? Some things to think about are:
- the extent of exposure to Covid-19 in the role
- the vulnerability of persons you are dealing with
- whether other measures can be implemented to deal with risks (eg masks, physical distancing)
- what difference community context might make eg high rates of community transmission versus lower rates and how your policy and procedure should respond.
What provision should be made for staff who, because of a pre-existing health condition, can’t get vaccinated?
Staff in this position are likely to have some good ideas. These could include:
- taking extra precautions for them to remain with their current duties?
- altering their duties to reduce risk of exposure
- moving the staff to roles less exposed to risk.
What should be the response for staff vulnerable to severe symptoms of Covid 19?
The health and safety duty for an employing agency requires reasonable steps to prevent harm. If staff have known conditions (including family members who are vulnerable) then reasonable steps must be responsive to the relevant condition.
Participation and input from the affected staff about their needs and measures to keep them safe until vaccination will be an important part of your policy and procedure.
If you’ve already had vulnerable staff, then you’ve got the benefit of hindsight. Your policy and procedure can provide for current measures to continue or, can address what hasn’t worked. It may be necessary to provide temporary measures like opportunities for remote work and extra safety measures for the staff concerned.
How can you encourage and support staff to get vaccinated?
If you’re a health or social service providing direct services, your policy and procedure can encourage staff to receive vaccinations with measures like:
- time off to receive the vaccination
- arrangements to access information about the vaccination from independent and trusted sources
- information about the consequences of choosing not to be vaccinated on their role/duties.
So if vaccination is going to important in your workplace, it’s time to get started on your policy and procedure.
Contact us NOW if you want help with your policies and procedures.
Choose our online policy and procedure service and rest easy knowing your policies and procedures are being regularly reviewed and updated.
9 policy and procedure areas to cover off for COVID- 19
Good policies and procedures can help you steer the course – keep you on track with your compliance and guard against panicked decision making in a time of emergency.
Are all policies and procedures equally important in a time of emergency?
Not all. Here’s what we prioritise.
Compliance
Policies and procedures addressing compliance with regulations and standards. These are the “must dos”. They can help you decide what and how you might pare back to save money and if need be, make changes to how you operate.
Pandemic policy/plan
An obvious policy.
As indicated by the recent resurgence of COVID-19 in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland, the plan needs to be robust enough to support flexible and quick responses to changing Alert levels. If your plan is based on a linear trajectory, it should be updated accordingly.
While you’re at it, check that your plan is consistent with the legislated requirements for contact tracing, restrictions on movements and physical distancing.
Staff at risk of infection
The situation of staff in this circumstance can be part of a pandemic or leave policy or because of its high-interest value, as a separate policy. The status of and responses to staff in the following circumstances should be clarified:
- staff exposed to infection through an event or personal contact (ie where increased risk)
- staff concerned about risk (but no indications of exposure)
- staff who may be especially vulnerable to infection because of a pre-existing condition, age etc
- staff are quarantined/required to self-isolate (may differentiate cases where it was forseeable/not forseeable)
- staff returning from international travel
- community lock-down.
Leave policy
Employees’ minimum leave entitlements are addressed in legislation. Organisations will have their own policy and procedure where leave is above the minimum and to outline how leave should be applied for etc.
Leave entitlements are especially important for staff when jobs start looking uncertain. It will also be pressing for staff at risk of infection, staff who become sick and those caring for dependents.
Your leave policy should address the application process for annual leave, sick leave, dependent/caregiver leave (may be added to or part of sick leave) and access to other leave – eg paid special leave; unpaid leave.
Flexible working policy
This policy should cover the relevant legal requirements eg that arrangements are requested and responded to, when formality might be waived and reasons why a request might be declined. It should cover options such as staff working on flexible schedules and in remote locations; recording variations to employment terms, clocking in and out, shared calendars and monitoring and review of arrangements.
Working from home policy
Working from home is a form of remote working. It could be part of your flexible working policy. However, its become a dominant way of working while in the pandemic so we think it warrants specific attention as a policy.
Your policy should cover expectations for how and when work is to be achieved, connection with the mothership (ie workplace and other colleagues), workplace hui; shared calendar and time recording; health and safety; roles and responsibilities. See here for help.
IT, privacy & communications policy
Most organisations will have policies about what’s acceptable/unacceptable use of email, online systems, software and social media. If staff are moving to remote working, it’s important that these policies cover roles and responsibilities, (eg for hardware, authorisations, arranging staff logins), safeguards for the transfer, use and recording of organisational and personal information and log in/access to online organisational resources including client management system and policies and procedures.
Diversity and inclusion
This may seem a surprising “must have” for Covid 19. It reflects the law (eg Human Rights Act; health and disability and social sector accreditation standards.)
We’ve included it here to counter the risks of xenophobia and exclusion. There have been instances of racist attacks related to Covid-19 and more recently, animosity towards returning citizens and residents. Yes, we’re concerned about health and safety. But this can not be at the expense of equality.
We all benefit from inclusive and welcoming work cultures where staff and others who may be infectious are supported and disinformation about the virus is rejected.
Delegations
If you’re a funded social or health service you’re required to have a delegations policy. At least, you should be able to evidence clear parameters around management versus governance functions and powers.
With Covid 19, it may be a good idea to think more extensively about delegations. For business continuity purposes, delegations should be in place and enable sufficient cover for when usual decision-makers are absent or become ill.
Ways you can address these areas
For those who’ve got it all covered, make sure your staff are aware of the policies. Enable their 24/7 access to your policies, procedures and other systems if they start to work remotely.
If you haven’t got them covered, it’s not too late. You can:
- amend your related policies to cover off the key areas
- develop and incorporate new procedures into existing policies
- contact us for help so it’s one less worry and there’s less stress.
For those into DIY, check out some of our other posts and these resources for help with drafting your policies:
9 tips to help you prepare for Alert Level 1 & beyond
We’re heading towards Alert level 1 so let’s get our workplaces ready.
We don’t know exactly what’s involved in Level 1 but we do know that we’re going to have to be careful and vigilant about public health. Always.
COVID-19 won’t be our last pandemic. Pandemic readiness must be part of how we prepare for Alert Level 1 and beyond. Here are some tips to help you prepare.
Tip 1: Distancing
Current physical distancing requirements will relax, but if it’s possible maintain workplace measures to support distancing like:
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more physical spacing between people
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more online and fewer in-person meetings
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staggered/rostered work schedules
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smaller programmes/courses
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contactless deliveries.
Tip 2: Keep up with the hygiene and cleaning routine
This is just good practice and should continue in the workplace. Maintain signage about coughing/sneezing hygiene and ensure wide access to tissues, soap, sanitiser, masks and other relevant protective gear.
Ensure that shared spaces are thoroughly cleaned each day. If staff take turns with this, develop an agreed checklist of hygiene and cleaning tasks to be achieved.
Tip 3: Contact Tracing
Continue to keep a record of who you are working with and who is entering the workplace. Make sure people understand why and what you’re doing it for.
Contact tracing is important for public health purposes. It’s a key way to track and contain infection outbreaks.
Tip 4: Strengthen remote capability
If you’ve been working remotely, keep it up. It is your back-up plan if there’s another infectious outbreak.
Ensure you’ve got the basics covered:
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your tech solutions for communication
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training for staff
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remote/flexible working arrangements agreed with staff and reflected in their employment agreements
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your handbook with policies and procedures updated and online for easy access and use by remote staff.
Tip 5: Encourage personal responsibility for health
You need everyone on board – everyone you work with- to stay at home if they are sick.
Communicate this consistently.
Action it by:
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allowing sick or special leave when staff report minor – serious symptoms of COVID-19
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allowing staff to work remotely so they can self-isolate whenever they are reasonably concerned about exposure to COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms.
The costs of these measures will be less than the cost of a future lock down. If you’re worried they will be mis-used, make sure your other policies dealing with conduct, performance expectations and disciplinary action are fit for purpose.
Tip 6: Review and respond
COVID-19 economic impacts are predicted to broaden so keep an eye on what’s happening for those you serve. It may be necessary to re-purpose resourcing or to scale an activity you do up or down to become more responsive and viable in the post-COVID 19 world.
Need help with that? Check out the range of government support available.
Tip 7: Take special care of people-facing and vulnerable staff
Monitor and address risks to:
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staff with pre-existing conditions like heart disease and diabetes that make them especially vulnerable to COVID 19
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essential workers and public -facing staff (eg foodbank staff; caregivers; health practitioners; bus & delivery drivers).
In addition to controls like masks and screens, encourage regular testing of your front-facing staff and essential workers for COVID-19 and that they get the flu shot.
Tip 8: Improve business continuity planning
We’re all in this together and stronger for it.
Improve your business continuity planning by making arrangements now with others operating in related areas about sharing resources, staffing and volunteers, obtaining supplies etc during a pandemic outbreak.
Tip 9: Stay on top of public health information
COVID-19 has reminded us we are all in the business of public health.
We need to stay on top of public health data so we can reliably identify hazardous activities and the risks and develop controls in a responsive way. Stay informed and keep your staff and others informed.
How parenting helps you manage workplace health and safety
Parenting is “risky” business. So is managing health and safety in the workplace. Apply what you know as a parent and you’ll be on course to health and safety in the workplace.
Similarities
Risk-management is ordinary
We want our kids to be happy and thrive so we let them take chances, make mistakes. We let them climb the highest tree, take a high skate ramp or bike jump even though “secretly” it may scare us to death.
Healthy risk-taking helps kids become resilient. Also important are caring & supportive relationships, coping skills, encouraging kids to problem-solve and letting them make mistakes to learn. Rather than say no to our kids risk-taking, we prepare them, inform and equip them, support them through the challenges and mishaps.
Risk-taking is also an inevitable part of business. It goes with employing staff; working with people; living with climate change and prospects of natural disasters etc. Preventing and dealing with risks therefore, needs to be BAU in terms of workplace culture, staff and client relationships, policies and procedures and decision-making processes.
Guided by a risk appetite
Sometimes we have to say “no” to our kids’ options for fun. But more often we don’t. Our response depends on our “risk appetite” – the level and nature of risk that we will accept given the likely benefits of the activity (eg can I live with the consequence of torn clothing, damage, a broken bone if the risk eventuates?).
Similarly, as managers, governors and staff, faced with choices that carry risks, we will consider what level and types of risks we can live with and manage. We communicate and engage with staff and others around what risks we’re comfortable with through our policies and procedures, when assessing risks and adequacy of controls.
Fair response
As a parent and as a manager, our response to risk(s) will depend on how severe we think the consequence will be and how likely it is. Our response should be proportionate, reasonable and ideally, particular to the risk(s).
Risk scenarios involving the most severe consequences should be prioritised and receive the most intense response.
Differences
Regulations
Regulations require workplace health and safety to be front and centre for workplaces. The job of a parent is less regulated with laws applying only in specific circumstances (eg riding with a helmet, use of child restraints, criminal offences).
This difference has important consequences. For example, organisations face sanctions if they don’t comply with legal requirements. More positively, a business or organisation can gain from the ready-made guidance provided by regulations.
Disclosure
As parents, we’re not usually obligated to talk to our child(ren) about risks. By contrast, full and transparent disclosure of information about risks is necessary in the workplace. Staff, clients and visitors to the workplace have a right to be fully informed about of risks to their safety and to make decisions about their safety based on that.
Gut versus informed
As a parent, we’ll often act on our “gut” about risks. Sometimes, we might do extra homework to get better informed about the real picture but it’s not required.
A more systematic and thorough approach is however expected of management. A manager must take reasonable steps to keep themselves informed about risks and put effective safety controls in place. Managers should therefore be aware of relevant data from industry and elsewhere about risks and effective safety controls (eg protective equipment; MoH guidelines).
Participation
The extent to which we talk to our children about risks and safety will depend on their age, our parenting style and preferences etc.
As managers, though, the law is clear that we must engage and allow staff to participate in health and safety decision making in the workplace. It makes sense too if we want to ensure that we are over the risks and taking all due care about the health and safety of those in our workforce.
Conclusion
Our health and safety responsibilities can sometimes feel overwhelming. Now, more than ever, health and safety must be front and centre for organisations.
If you’re into DIY policies and procedures, remember you’ve got a lot to practical experience of managing risk to draw on if you’ve been or are a parent.
But if you’re not into DIY and want the convenience and relief of having someone else take care of your agency’s policies and procedures, contact us. Our online policy and procedure service, accessible 24/7, includes health and safety policies that we can customise to you.
Let us look after your policy and procedure needs so you have more time to focus on your work and whānau.
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