Health & Safety still Failing.

Kia Ora

No matter what happens, it seems the associated professions of Police officer, Corrections officer or Security officer/guard in this country are not deemed to have to work in line with Health & Safety requirements that all others in the work force are.

It all, as I have said previously, comes back to having a culture of Risk Assessment.

The Police have gone someway towards it in issuing bodyarmour for their staff, but they still have single officers in vehicles when two are required.

Where as the Corrections department think that only some of their staff require bodyarmour & only have to don it under certain circumstances.

It should be, if a correct risk assessment is carried out, that all are required to wear it, unless you can justify not wearing it. You can not say "oh we have it, but at the time it was not seen as neccesary for this task."

No one knows when it is going to be required so you can't  pick & choose when you wear it. Though for each specialist task there needs to be supplied specialist equipment.

Then yet again we get to the  NZ Security Industry where the attitude is there is no way anyone needs bodyarmour, drills are not taught & generally the industry takes the attitude that you must ignore all crime or suspicious activity, unless on your clients property & even that is often on a case by case basis.

International visitors can not believe the clear lack of Health & Safety requirements in most industries in this country.

But every week we are reminded of how low the standards are.

In the professions above there will always a certain amount of danger, the same as the military, but it can be partly mitigated by having again that culture of Risk assessment.

                                    http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz