Ports of Auckland is undertaking an organisational review following two workplace fatalities in two years.
The company says this will includes an investigation into the most recent accident, a company-wide employee engagement survey and a joint study with the Maritime Union of New Zealand on worker engagement and the effectiveness of health and safety committees.
It is also supporting Auckland Council’s independent review of its health and safety which is being carried out by a team from Construction Health and Safety New Zealand.
“This work has shown that our safety culture and employee engagement needs improvement,” Ports of Auckland said in a statement.
“As an example, our staff engagement survey showed that some staff may not feel that they can speak up about safety when they see issues of concern.”
The port says it is working on changes to address these concerns which includes:
- Extra work into culture and safety over the next six months. Key areas of focus will be on improving safety observations, starting a new leadership programme for operational managers, reviewing operational procedures, training and risk management, and putting in place more active and targeted safety communications.
- Over 70% of staff completed a recent engagement survey and while most love working at Ports of Auckland, the survey revealed some workplace cultural issues which will be urgently addressed. We are now sharing the survey findings with our people and will work with them to address the issues highlighted. The survey has reinforced the need to focus on communication, health & safety, organisational processes and workplace culture.
- Reviewing and improving the documentation of safety systems and policies and improving the way the Container Terminal Operations Health & Safety Committee and the Fatigue Risk Management sub-committee work.
- Working to support changes in the organisation which includes meeting with front-line workers and working closely with employee representatives – for example the Maritime Union and PortPro Union – to improve employee engagement and safety culture.
