Context and Objectives
The Government has established a legislative and funding system to support the training of employee Health and Safety Representatives. The system has a number of elements designed to complement each other. The elements are:
- Access to 2 days ' paid leave each year for Health and Safety Representatives to attend approved training courses.
- The course approval system under Section 19G of the HSE Act 1992;
- The funding of some approved courses through the Employment Relations Education (ERE) Contestable Fund; and
- The gazetted competencies that a Health and Safety Representative needs in order to be deemed competent to issue Hazard Notices under Section 46A of the HSE Act and to become a “trained health and safety representative”.
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The Government’s intention in developing a system with these elements was to ensure that properly and comprehensively trained Health and Safety Representatives were developed over time, progressing from a solid foundation course through stages of training and, in doing so building and developing transferable skills and competencies in their role.
The system recognises that in order for representatives to effectively participate in the ongoing management of health and safety they need skill and knowledge specific to this role. To this end the Government, through the course approval and funding system, has promoted the idea that all new representatives attend a comprehensive foundation course. The system encourages representatives to progress through stages of learning that add to these foundation skills building greater depth. The system also recognises that New Zealanders move between jobs and that representatives will benefit from being able to transfer their skills from one workplace to another.
The information below is intended to provide guidance about the overall system to people developing a course for Health and Safety Training Representatives.
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In order to qualify for either course approval or funding a course must be consistent with the object of the Health and Safety in Employment Act and relevant to the role of a health and safety representative. Its aim should be to provide health and safety representatives with the skills and knowledge needed to promote the successful management of health and safety issues through good faith cooperation in their workplace, and, in particular, through facilitating the constructive input of those doing the work into the ongoing processes for improving health and safety in their workplace.
It is recommended that providers of training have regard to the current training needs of health and safety representatives when developing courses. The employee participation system required by the HSE Act has been in place since May 2003. Since that time some 13,000 representatives have attended a foundation course and are ready to step up to the next level. For many more new representatives, however, their immediate need will still be for a solid foundation course.
Course providers are therefore recommended to focus on foundation courses or courses that build on the existing foundation courses to provide a firm progression in skills and knowledge.
To be eligible for the limited pool of funding, courses must provide consistent and comprehensive training to ensure that health and safety representatives progress through stages of training and in doing so build and develop transferable skills and competencies in their role.
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When developing a course that meets the required criteria applicants are advised to also give due weight to the Gazette d competencies that health and safety representatives must achieve in order to be regarded as a “trained health and safety representative” able to issue Hazard Notices. Such courses should ensure that health and safety representatives are able to demonstrate knowledge of all of the following matters:
- The object, key duties and responsibilities of the Health and Safety in Employment Act;
- Systems and practices for promoting constructive employee participation in health and safety issues;
- How to communicate regularly and effectively, using the principles of good faith, with employers, unions and employees including the use of Hazard Notices;
- How to effectively represent the views of employees;
- How to promote/foster positive health and safety management practices in the workplace;
- Hazard management including all practicable steps, the hierarchy of controls, tools for identifying, assessing and controlling hazards;
- Occupational safety and health matters related to the provision of information, training and supervision / emergencies and incidents - and how to investigate near misses, injuries and incidents.
- How to promote the health and safety interests of employees, especially employees who have been harmed at work and who need assistance with rehabilitation;
- How to constructively engage with the Department of Labour ' s Occupational Safety and Health Service where necessary;
21-Nov-2007d under the Act, for example by an employee participation system, or recommended by a code of practice.
Training providers taking account of these matters will provide health and safety representatives with a solid foundation of skill and knowledge to enable them to competently undertake their role.
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Criteria for approval under section 19g of the HSE Act
The criteria for approval is that your course has to:
- be consistent with the object of the Health and Safety in Employment Act;
- be relevant to the role of a health and safety representative; and
- meet appropriate educational standards.
Its aim should be to provide health and safety representatives with the skills and knowledge needed to promote the successful management of health and safety issues through good faith cooperation in their workplace, and, in particular, through facilitating the constructive input of those doing the work into the ongoing processes for improving health and safety in their workplace.
Evidence must be provided that the course is consistent with the object of the HSE Act as set out in section 5 of the Act.
Evidence must be provided that the course is relevant to the role of a health and safety representative
Evidence must also be provided that the course meets appropriate educational standards.
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Matters relevant to the approval and funding of courses
1. The object of the HSE Act
The Health and Safety in Employment Act’s object is to promote the prevention of harm to all persons at work and other persons in, or in the vicinity of, a place of work.
Section 5 of the Act sets out the object, and lists various means contained in the Act to achieve it, including by:
- Promoting excellence in health and safety management, in particular through being systematic;
- Defining hazards and harm in a comprehensive way so that all hazards and harm are covered, including harm caused by work-related stress and hazardous behaviour caused by certain temporary conditions.
- Imposing duties to ensure that people are not harmed as a result of work activities;
- Setting requirements that relate to the taking of all practicable steps to ensure health and safety, and are flexible to cover different circumstances;
- Encouraging the health and safety of volunteers;
- Requiring employee participation in the improvement of health and safety and encouraging good faith co-operation in places of work;
- Providing a range of enforcement methods in response to failure to comply with the Act.
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2. Foundation courses
A practical knowledge of the following areas is considered to be critical if a health and safety representative is to competently fulfil their role. It is recommended that a good foundation course should cover a practical knowledge of :
- The object, key duties and responsibilities of the Health and Safety in Employment (HSE) Act;
- Systems and practices for promoting constructive employee participation in health and safety issues;
- How to communicate regularly and effectively, using the principles of good faith, with employers, unions and employees including the use of Hazard Notices;
- How to effectively represent the views of employees;
- How to promote/foster positive health and safety management practices in the workplace;
- Hazard management including the HSE Act’s requirement to take all practicable steps, the HSE Act’s hierarchy of controls, tools for identifying, assessing and controlling hazards;
- Occupational safety and health matters related to the provision of information, training and supervision / emergencies and incidents - and how to investigate near misses, injuries and incidents.
- How to promote the health and safety interests of employees, especially employees who have been harmed at work and who need assistance with rehabilitation;
- How to constructively engage with the Department of Labour ' s Occupational Safety and Health Service where necessary;
- How to carry out any additional functions conferred under the Act, for example by an employee participation system, or recommended by a code of practice.
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3. Ability to issue Hazard Notices
Courses which can be recognised in terms of Section 46A of the H&SE Act as appropriate for a health and safety representative to complete in order to be a trained health and safety representative, should include in their course curriculum all the skills and knowledge as listed in the criteria immediately above. This requirement is consistent with the gazetted Ministerial statement [PDF 18KB] as provided for in Section 46A. [Please also refer to Quality of courses below]
4. Advanced training courses
Applicants seeking approval for a course, but not seeking the recognition for the course as meeting all the recommended scope of a foundation course as set out above, are encouraged to make specific the special focus of the course and the particular contribution it will seek to make to the ongoing roles of health and safety representatives.
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For example, such courses may develop more specialist programmes to enhance the understanding and experience of already trained health and safety representatives, especially in relation to managing risks with respect to hazards in the workplace. Alternatively, such a course may focus on the role of health and safety representatives in special industries or workplace situations.
Applicants are advised to also give due weight and effect to the Government’s objectives outlined in the context statement above, particularly in regard to the purpose of the health and safety representatives’ training provisions in the Health and Safety in Employment Act. That is that health and safety representatives build their skills and competencies, progressively, year by year, through a tiered training system, using their two-day training entitlement.
The Government’s intention is that this involves providing training which begins with foundation courses and moves on to more advanced skills which develop and deepen health and safety representatives’ level of skills. This intention is underlined by the transferability of the training and certification evident in Section 46A(1) whereby the health and safety representative, once trained and certificated, remains so regardless of where he or she is working.
The criteria for funding of approved courses have been compiled in the understanding that the funded courses would provide a coherent and comprehensive framework where such advancement was enabled and to ensure that fragmentation of such a framework did not occur.
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5. Ministerial Funding Policy
When developing a course that meets the required criteria applicants are advised to also give due weight and effect to the Ministerial policy for funding from the Employment Relations Education (ERE) Contestable Fund . To be eligible for the limited pool of funding courses must provide consistent and comprehensive training to ensure that health and safety representatives progress through stages of training (utilising the two day annual training entitlement under s19E of the Act) and, in doing so build and develop transferable skills and competencies in their role within the scheme of the Health and Safety in Employment Act.
6. National standards and codes of practice
It is desirable that applicants have regard to the content of relevant national standards and codes of practice in the design of courses for approval under these criteria.
Relevant national standards and codes of practice could include health and safety unit standards.
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7. Quality of courses
Evidence must be provided that the course:
- Specifies measurable outcomes;
- Is supported by a training programme that will achieve those outcomes;
- Specifies a means of determining suitably qualified and experienced trainers;
- Specifies an in-course and/or post-course method for assessing the extent to which skills and knowledge have been acquired by participants; and
- Specifies a mechanism for evaluating, with input from participants, the programme and trainers, and ensuring that improvements are made where necessary.
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In the case of applicants seeking recognition for a course as appropriate for a health and safety representative to complete in order to be a trained health and safety representative, the applicant must provide detailed information of the assessment process that will be used to determine whether or not an individual attending the course has attained the necessary competency to be recognised as a trained health and safety representative.
If the applicant has evidence of course approval by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, or equivalent, this should be provided.
If the applicant has evidence of accreditation by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, or equivalent, this should be provided.
As well, providers of such recognised courses, as described in the footnote, should keep an ongoing record of those individuals who have gained recognition as trained health and safety representatives through participation in the particular courses.
The course provider certifying this recognition should issue such individuals with a certificate (A recommended template for such a certificate will soon be available on this web site) . General information about the number of such certificates awarded and their distribution across workplace situations and groups should be included within course reports submitted to the Department of Labour.
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Applications can be made by any individual, group, or organisation that wishes to provide employment relations education. There is no limit on the number of proposals that an applicant may submit. Applications will be assessed on the basis of the criteria set above.
This applies to ERE course approval applications only. There are set eligibility criteria for ERE Contestable Fund applications. For detailed information see the Guidelines for ERE Contestable Fund.
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Approval will be given for 2 years, and any application for re-approval will be assessed on whether the course continues to meet the criteria.
The Department of Labour makes summary information about approved courses available to encourage the development of best practice examples and the sharing of information. This information includes:
- Name of course
- Course category
- Course objective – or outline
- Length of course – half day, 3 days, 5 days
- Proposed geographic location of course delivery
- Provider/deliverer of course
- Date course approved
In order to monitor health and safety representative training and report to the Minister of Labour on progress, the Department of Labour needs to collect a range of information about the delivery of approved courses.
Providers are therefore required to report to the Department of Labour on all approved health and safety representative course deliveries, on a quarterly basis. Providers must submit their quarterly reports not later than two weeks after the end of that quarter. The first quarterly reporting period will for convenience nominally begin on 1 April 2003 (although in practice courses will not be able to be approved under the Health and Safety in Employment Act until after 5 May 2003), and ends on 30 June 2003. The first quarterly reports will therefore be due by 14 July 2003 . All deliveries of approved courses undertaken in a quarter must be reported on.
Providers must use the standard form (PDF 67KB) so that consistent information is collected in a form that can be entered into the Department of Labour ' s database.
For each course that is delivered the reports must include the following information:
- the geographic location of each course delivery
- how many participants attended each course delivery, broken down by gender and ethnicity and including the number of participants who chose not to provide this information. Please note that while we require course providers to ask participants for this information, under the Privacy Act 1993 providers must tell participants the purpose for which the information is being collected (to obtain statistical information about the ERE programme), and that participants may choose not to provide it
- the duration of each course delivery
- summary of course evaluation including a random sample of participant responses
The information provided will be used only for monitoring and statistical purposes.
The following information is held by the Department of Labour for monitoring purposes:
- Identity of those who initially proposed a course
- Target group
- A copy of the mechanism to be used to assess the participants ' understanding of the course material
- A copy of the evaluation processes to be undertaken after the programme to ascertain whether the course has achieved its stated objectives
- Copies of the quarterly reports described above
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Once you have prepared your application using these Guidelines and the Checklist, you can e-mail it to: ere@ers.dol.govt.nz
or post three copies of it to:
Health and Safety Course Approvals
Workplace Group
Department of Labour
P O Box 3705
WELLINGTON
Please Note:
Applicants wishing to use already-approved courses please refer to the Guidelines for using pre-approved courses, and pre-approved course template.
Applicants who wish to apply for course approval under the Employment Relations Act should refer to the Applicant guidelines for course approval under the Employment Relations Act.
For further information please email the Executive Officer ERE Coordinator; or by phone 04 915 4552; or fax 04 915 4710.
This page was last updated on:
21-Nov-2007
and is current.
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