Open Journal Systems at the Victoria University of Wellington Library
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Making New Zealand: Celebration and Anti-Myth
Get PDFThe Making New Zealand publications were a New Zealand government‐produced series of magazines to celebrate the centenary of the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Each issue of the series (covering topics from infrastructure and defence, to fashion and sport) was to present an objective overview of the history of its subject – within the confines of a publication commemorating New Zealand's history. Joe Heenan, Undersecretary of Internal Affairs, was keen for the centenary celebrations and ephemera to "celebrate 100 years of colonisation," bringing "the bright side of our national progress" before the eyes of the world. While some authors were happy to articulate their topics in support of Heenan's vision, others became interested in producing what they believed to be a more realistic narrative grounded in the social realities of this country, including its negative aspects. Rather than making a case for the maintenance of cultural continuity, these writers sought a national identity arising from cultural adaptation to the specific conditions of New Zealand as a new world. This paper looks at a range of Making New Zealand issues to explore the narratives put forward as retrospective accounts of and normative directives for the design of New Zealand's interior and landscape environments
Writing academic articles of interest to practitioners
Get PDFProfessionals (including health and safety practitioners) may be expected to carry out small-scale, applied research that can be shared with others. Writing up and publishing the findings can be hard: Is there an appropriate journal? What do journals expect in manuscripts? Will they publish such research?
Drawing on academic and practitioner literature and journal requirements, this article shows how a manuscript meeting those requirements could be structured, written and submitted to a journal to increase the chances of selection for review, revision and publication. The requirements of the New Zealand Journal of Health and Safety Practice, a newly established, practice-oriented journal, are used here to give specific examples of journal expectations
Abstract: Mental Safety at Work – New Research and What It Means for Your Organisation
No full textMental safety is at the foundation of psychological health and safety, making it of utmost importance for health and safety practitioners, business leaders, and managers to prioritise. In this presentation, we share research from a study aiming to better understand mental safety in Aotearoa New Zealand workplaces
Poster: A New Management Model for An Ancient Risk
No full textMost finely divided combustible materials are hazardous. When suspended in air and ignited, they can cause severe explosions. This phenomenon has been known for over 200 years. The first recorded dust explosion occurred on December 14, 1785, at a flower dust explosion in a warehouse in Turin, Italy. The entire industrial spectrum, including agricultural, chemical, metallurgical, mining, plastics, and woodworking industries, continues to be plagued by this problem.
Although the basic principles for controlling dust explosions have been understood for many years, knowledge is becoming increasingly sophisticated as incidents continue to occur.
The International Network of Safety and Health Practitioners Organisations framework requires health and safety practitioners to have some knowledge of explosions. This poster identifies some accessible sources of information that could be used by practitioners
Abstract: Towards a risk techniques taxonomy
Get PDFMy research has shown that health and safety practitioners mainly use professional judgement, workshops, and the consequence/likelihood matrix as risk techniques, suggesting a lack of knowledge of the roughly 450 other management techniques. I also found there was a need for a risk technique identification key to help choose between known, documented techniques that might be relevant to an assessment. An identification key is often used in biology to help identify animals and plants but one has not been developed for risk or other management techniques. A “risk canvas” was developed as part of my research and helps risk assessors place 12 techniques in a relevant risk assessment stage but does not provide a structured process to help identify and choose among others that might more relevant or give better results.
This presentation will report on work in progress that builds on limited guidance in IEC/ISO31010 to help structure such an identification key that can be used by practitioners to help choose techniques relevant to an assessment. The work showed that the intention to develop a risk techniques identification key should have been titled “Towards a risk techniques taxonomy”. When completed, the taxonomy will help ‘unlock’ access to other techniques. It will help improve the competence of health and safety practitioners and help them become connoisseurs of a wider range of risk techniques. It will give confidence that an assessment has yielded the best available information that management can then use as the weight of evidence for decision making. The taxonomy will also help “mixed methods research”
Abstract: Harnessing evidence and knowledge to move to practice
No full textThe use of evidence by those involved in health and safety practice is at times sporadic with knowledge often kept behind paywalls and practitioners being unable to access it. There are additional problems with a gap between research within tertiary institutions being focused on single issue problems and the timing of research projects. This adds to the at times difficult, development of workplace interventions in a complex work environment.
This presentation will highlight some of those issues around enabling translation of research into practice and talk about the pilot project, the Wellbeing at Work Hub. The Hub, based on a “what works” centre design was developed to take research evidence, synthesise it into a series of principles that can then be applied in practice. However, our immediate learnings from the pilot are that of credibility, thus any items shared have to be tested and validated through a systematic approach. While the hub pilot has been completed and we continue to build the hub, there is a need for further engagement involving stakeholders, industry, researchers and practitioners to identify the research questions that need to be addressed.
The development of a research/practitioner network at VUW is ongoing and taking the example from Canada, where networks work together to co-design research which is both useful and doable. Working together we can build that evidence base, drawing from international research and building our own local research knowledge; with the aim of influencing and improving practice
The Missing Ingredient in New Zealand’s climate policy: food
Get PDFThe food system is a major producer of greenhouse gas emissions. There is a growing consensus that to achieve net zero we need to change production and consumption patterns. Mitigation policies that rely on improving production methods used to farm animals, rather than reducing the number of animals farmed, will likely, for multiple reasons, have only a limited overall impact. Policies that fail to address consumption miss opportunities for reducing emissions, as well as a range of other co-benefits. This article proposes that the representation of agriculture and its impact on climate needs to change. There is a compelling case for the food system to be included in climate policy as a coherent whole
From the Journal Editor
No full textResearch papers
In this edition we are delighted to publish an applied research article report on “exposure to dust and bioaerosols at GB municipal waste handling sites” by Keen, Sandys & Crook, three leading scientists from the British Health and Safety Laboratory. Internationally, the waste industry is very hazardous; this article makes a major contribution to our occupational health knowledge in New Zealand. It should be circulated to officers and senior managers in the New Zealand waste industry. It may also suggest areas for applied research and investigations.
Other research articles in this issue also touch on occupational health.
An article by Koia gives an interesting perspective on strategic management of work health and safety, including issues for the New Zealand government as it reviews submissions on proposed reforms.
HASANZ Conference 2024
In September 2024, the Health and Safety Association of NZ held its biennial conference in Wellington. The official conference opening in the Beehive was addressed by the Hon Brooke van Velden, Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety and brought together many attendees in a social setting. The Minister referred to the-then current consultation on proposed reform of the health and safety system (Van Velden, 2024) that led to 10 articles in the second edition of this journal available at https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/nzjhsp/issue/view/1006).
Over the two-days of the conference attendees could listen to four keynote speeches, choose from 18 presentations in six concurrent sessions, listen to a panel discussion, and attend discipline specific sessions. Attendees could also inspect a wide range of posters and engage with diverse stands.
Complementing the article by Keen, Sandys & Crook were poster displays on use of the dust lamp by Levinge and combustible dust explosions by Yu.
This edition of New Zealand Journal of Health and Safety Practice contains some of the abstracts and posters. We hope they will lead to full reports in due course but here they help make the conference “the conference that keeps on giving”.
Case study
To complement the article by Keen, Sandys & Crook, the New Zealand Institute of Safety Management (NZISM) has kindly given permission for a case study paper on the waste industry, originally published in 2021, to be reprinted in this edition. Some of the sources cited were written by or contributed to by Keen, Sandys & Crook. The paper was research for a webinar for NZISM and carries a warning that it has not been reviewed and may be out of date in places, especially in relation to cases in the District Court on work health and safety.
For 2025
In April 2025 we plan to publish a special edition to mark International Workers Memorial Day. Submissions on work-related death are welcome and should be submitted by 10 March 2025.
The New Zealand Occupational Hygiene Society (NZOHS) is calling for conference abstracts and papers about work-related health for its conference on 26-28 May 2025. The focus should be on occupational exposures, associated health effects and occupational health research. We hope to publish the papers and abstracts later in 2025. Contact [email protected] for further information
Constructing sleep health: understanding risks and interventions in the New Zealand roofing industry
Get PDFThe study investigated sleep health in terms of obstructive sleep apnoea and chronic insomnia amongst the Roofing trade in the New Zealand construction industry. Despite efforts to support workers, intervention uptake remained low, indicating a necessity for more tailored approaches. Addressing work-related stressors and offering sleep health education could enhance treatment acceptance. Future research should investigate cultural and experiential influences on sleep quality. However, limitations like the small sample size and convenience sampling must be acknowledged. In conclusion, while the study provides valuable insights, further exploration and nuanced interventions are imperative to address sleep-related challenges in the construction industry effectively
Editor's Introduction
Get PDFAt this time last year, and in this context, I noted the high degree of uncertainty that Victoria University was experiencing – an uncertainty that was the outcome of an exceptionally difficult financial situation. The financial difficulties that the University faced led to the loss of significant numbers of staff, with consequential changes to the kind of teaching and research that Victoria University was able to engage in
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