Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden had many motorists cheering, back in March, when she banged out a press statement to boast (according to the headline) Going for growth: cutting health & safety red tape
She proceeded to proclaim that the Government
… will boost economic growth by reforming health and safety laws to lessen the cost and burden of compliance on low-risk businesses.
Among the matters listed by the Minister, the Cabinet had agreed to:
Among the matters listed by the Minister, the Cabinet had agreed to:
- Help end the proliferation of road cones by providing a hotline for the public to report overzealous road cone use, and for WorkSafe to confirm and provide guidance on instances of over-compliance.
I’ve travelled across the country to hear health and safety concerns, and at nearly every meeting, someone raised the issue of sea of road-cones. I am directing WorkSafe to confirm and provide guidance on instances of road cones overcompliance. Having WorkSafe focus on this will be a culture shift for the agency, but it signifies the broader direction this Government is taking with the health and safety system.
Progress on the plan to rid us of road cones was the subject of another press statement in June:
WorkSafe makes significant shift to rebalance its activities, launches road cone hotline
As part of a broader suite of health and safety reforms, the Government had agreed to a range of changes that would significantly refocus WorkSafe from an enforcement agency to one that engaged early to support businesses and individuals to manage their critical risks, van Velden said.
And what was at the top of her action list?
“Changes begin with today’s launch of WorkSafe’s road cone tipline to look into and provide guidance on instances of over-compliance in temporary traffic management,” says Ms van Velden.
The tipline would be complemented by a joint engagement programme by WorkSafe with NZTA and key industry stakeholders, educating those involved with temporary traffic management to adopt a risk-based approach.
The press statement advised that the road cone hotline would be accessible from 7am through the following link: worksafe.govt.nz/roadcones.
A few months later, how are things going on the cone-removal front?
The answer was provided this week in a newspaper report headed
Government tackles road cone fatigue with new traffic management plan
The newspaper said:
After five months of the Government’s own centralised “Road Cone Tipline”, it has received upwards of 800 complaints ‒ but appears to have removed about 200 cones only.
Readers were reminded that van Velden had launched the tipline in June after she instructed WorkSafe, the Government’s health and safety regulator and law enforcement agency, to start triaging complaints about road cones.
Those figures are disappointing.
But there’s more disappointment: van Velden is now considering the tipline’s future, saying it was set up as an information-gathering exercise ‒ and that information has been gathered.
The Government may need to “adapt” its strategy for this war on road cones, van Velden said, after being asked to respond to new research, from the Green Party, which showed the tipline had led to relatively few cones being taken off the street.
The office of Green Party workplace relations spokesperson Teanau Tuiono sent official information requests to all road controlling authorities to ask how many, if any, road cones had been removed as a result of tips.
That number appeared to be 204 (although the country’s two biggest road controllers ‒ government-run Waka Kotahiand Auckland Transport said they did not know how many cones had been removed).
After five months of the Government’s own centralised “Road Cone Tipline”, it had received upwards of 800 complaints.
But complaints don’t necessarily result in cone removal:
In Whanganui, information from the tipline had actually led to more cones being put out than taken away.
Comparing tips sent to councils that did collect information about road cone removals, there had been 271 tips resulting in 207 cones being removed ‒ plus some added in Whanganui.
So what good has been done?
Well, van Velden said the findings had been useful.
“Our initial analysis shows that most road cones are compliant with traffic management plans.”
That analysis had informed Government decision making and its understanding about the issue of over-zealous road cone usage, she said.
“The real issue may be at the council level, rather than with individual contractors and therefore the problem lies outside of WorkSafe’s control.
“We’ll continue to assess the data and remain flexible. If our analysis shows the core issues are being addressed, we’ll adapt our approach accordingly.”
Another announcement in June was that WorkSafe had started slashing outdated guidance documents from its website and would be updating guidance where necessary.
Fifty documents had already been removed “and more will follow”.
The Greens might ask for updated figures on the shredding.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
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