You may be aware that the Government have announced their intention to change the vocational education system in New Zealand. The government’s view is that the system implemented after the RoVE project has not worked. This includes the disestablishment of Te Pukenga and broader considerations such as the fate of the Workforce Development Councils. As the next step in these plans, the Minister for Tertiary Education has just released a public consultation document which asks for feedback on what the system will look like. They have provided options for review and feedback. Read the full consultation document HERE. Add your voice to the WDC submission. Waihanga Ara Rau making it easy for you to have your say in the future structure of the vocational education system. You will have seen that the Government have started consulting on substantial structural changes to the Vocational Education and Training system. This proposal has major implications for the future of your workforce, how people train, and attracting people into our sector. This will have long term consequences for our sector. This is a crucial opportunity for you and others in construction and infrastructure to heavily influence workplace training and career progression in construction and infrastructure for years to come. The WDC aim to make it easy for you to tell the Government what you think and choose an option that’s best for you and your industry.They will achieve this by:
Join the webinars The WDC will be hosting short informational webinars to provide more information about the proposals, our initial take on the options and next steps. They encourage you and your teams to book onto these. More details are available here. Keep checking this page for details and resources as they update this page. CANZ Submission CANZ is a vocal industry advocate when it comes to the issues that affects its members. We are working through the consultation document and will certainly be making a submission on behalf of the industry. It is our view that vocational learning has not been well managed in quite some time and we will strongly push for a system that supports accessible, affordable, high quality training for the kiwi crane industry. Want to include your thoughts in our submission? Email Sarah Toase or give her a call to discuss your thoughts.
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News release - 12 June 2023
Construction industry groups frustrated by government delays: Wood’s office offers no explanation Construction industry bosses are becoming increasingly frustrated over government delays in finalising health and safety regulations covering staff who work in their sectors. The complaints centre around the Plant, Structures and Hazardous Work regulations, part of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. Scaffolding Access and Rigging Association, chief executive officer, Tina Wieczorek, says the existing regulations are years out of date. This creates significant risks to anyone working in the crane, scaffolding, roofing and elevated work platform sectors, as well as many others. She says the new regulations, designed to reduce work-related harm, were first drafted in mid-2019 but still haven’t been finalised. Nor can government say with certainty when they will be gazetted, she says. “Meanwhile we have thousands of construction staff in cranes, up scaffolding, on roofs and and using elevating work platforms every day, all working in potentially risky environments and who deserve the most up to date regulations to ensure their safety. “Government doesn’t seem in a rush to get the new safety regs in place.” Wieczorek’s concerns are backed by the Roofing Association, Hire Industry Association, Cranes Association, Forklift Industry Association and the Elevating Work Platform Association. They all agree the new regulations need to be consulted on urgently and gazetted as soon as possible to avoid any further undue risk to workers. “But we’ve been told nothing’s likely to happen until at least March next year,” Wieczorek said. “Let’s hope, for everyone’s sake, we don’t have an accident in the meantime that the new regs would have prevented.” None of the associations knows why the proposed regulations have been delayed for so long, despite repeated requests for that information. “Even our OIA requests to transport minister Michael Wood’s office haven’t shed any light on that,” Wieczorek says. They say industry is largely in agreement about how the new regulations should be designed, so there’s not much of a sticking point there. Once gazetted, the new regulations will update the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 to ensure it is better aligned with current industry practice. “It might seem odd for an industry group to call for regulations to be introduced quickly, but we are concerned for the safety of our staff,” Wieczorek said. “Government needs to act on this, and act quickly to keep people safe.” ________________________________________________________ For more information and to arrange interviews with the leaders of the Associations mentioned in this release, contact Daniel Paul (021) 400 993. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Sky Tower, we've dusted off some old photos from inside the CANZ archives for everyone to see. These were the submission photos for Job of the year in '98. View the photos from the Job below This morning I attended an event run by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, with keynote speaker Hon Michael Wood. Minister Wood is the Minister responsible for the Plant & Structures Legislation and therefore I took the opportunity to ask him why it's delayed and when we can expect it. Check it out here --> Here's a rundown of the rest of the event. Minister Wood set the scene by urging us to remember this is very much still at time of transition in New Zealand, with borders only having been fully open for four weeks. New Zealand is still reconnecting with the world, transitioning out of pandemic settings and reopening for business. The government recognises that the rates of productivity in New Zealand are low and is focussed on addressing this issue. This is viewed as fundamental to the long term strategic growth for the economy. Minister Wood made it clear that the government sees moving to a low carbon economy as being hand in glove with this initiative. Good quality freight and infrastructure lead to a low carbon economy. Indeed, the Minister stated that there are no successful thriving cities across the world, who's transport plan that involves increasing the number of cars coming into its city centre. Minister Wood then ran through each of his portfolios - key points summary below: Transport
Immigration
Plant & Structure Regulations - the Minister advised: Q. What is causing the delay? A. The sheer complexity of the legislation and the work required to make sure it’s good legislation. Also a choke point when it comes to the people needed at parliament dealing with this legislation. Q. When will we see the draft out for final public consultation - is the government committed to getting this done before the end of its term? A. The final draft for consultation is expected out in the next couple of months. Well, what a conference!
Thank you to everyone for coming together for this amazing event. We had the largest ever crane event held in NZ and can’t wait until next year! Congratulations to the winners of the Crane Awards 2022: Trainee of the Year – Catherine Dudson Trainer of the Year – Leverage Training PTE Trainer of the Year – Major Oak Safety Training Ltd Training Company of the Year – NZ Crane Hire People’s Choice Award – Smith Crane & Construction Ltd Pacifica Building Tower Crane Demob / TC 2 Removal Leader of the Year - Stuart Hindley Lift of the Year – HEB Construction & Smith Crane & Construction Ltd - Peacocke Bridge Pier Installation Project of the Year - Smith Crane & Construction Ltd - Turitea Wind Farm You can check out the photos from the conference here We know our members work across many sectors, but the construction industry is a big part of what we do. See the latest update from Infometrics (economics consultancy) which provides an update on building work put into place and how this is tracking overall. In celebration of International Women's Day 2022, click here to read our feature article on the amazing kiwi women who are "breaking the bias" in the crane industry.
The Crane Association of New Zealand is proud to announce a new Christmas colouring competition for kids in the crane industry! We have some awesome prizes up for grabs! Details on how to enter are below. All you have to do is: 1. Print off the colouring competition for your kiddos (click the button below) 2. Get them colouring! 3. Email completed entries by 26th November to [email protected] or mail it to us at the address at the bottom of this email It's a great way to get your kids involved in cranes and a particularly great activity for those still in lockdown. We'll announce the winners in the December newsletter. Good luck kids! Click below to download the colouring in competition
CANZ is pleased to announce that an agreement between CICA and CANZ was signed last month. This agreement laid out the terms to allow CANZ to bring the CrewSafe Operator Competency system to New Zealand. CrewSafe is the standardised VOC assessment tool for the Australian crane industry, which will be tailored for New Zealand machines and qualifications before it is rolled out here. CrewSafe provides machine-specific, impartial, peer assessment with documented evidence of competency. This will set the standard for the New Zealand industry. Watch the signing of the agreement, featuring Brandon Hitch CICA CEO, Jan Coton CANZ President and Sarah Toase of CANZ. Hear for yourself how this system will benefit your business. |
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