Safest Places to Work Announced for 2019

Kainga Ora Homes and Communities has been announced as the 2019 Safest Place to Work, Supreme winner at an awards ceremony held in Auckland on 14 November 2019.

The annual awards initiative is powered by Safe365 and sponsored by AdviceFirst with a purpose of recognising kiwi businesses that put the health, safety & well being of their workers at the forefront of their business. The winners stories are then told via a video series as a means of inspiring other businesses to increase awareness, shift mindsets and change behaviour to embrace health, safety & well being at work.

Kainga Ora Homes and Communities, the crown entity responsible for managing New Zealand’s state housing program, won the supreme award after winning the large enterprise category ahead of Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga who was highly commended. Palmerston North based Allied Laundry Services Ltd won the medium sized business category and Tauranga based logistics company TKL Logistics took out the small business category.

Tauranga based Pillar Consulting was named Safe365 Partner of the Year – a new category introduced to recognise the significant contribution health & safety advisors make in supporting businesses to lift their capability & culture towards health, safety & well-being.  

A total of 6 innovation awards were also presented to trailblazing organisations that have demonstrated modern and effective practices that are game-changing for lifting health and safety maturity across the economy.

Safe365 Co-Founders Mark Kidd and Nathan Hight said the awards were a great way of elevating awareness of modern approaches to health and safety. “Despite NZ still maintaining a poor record when compared to other developed countries, many kiwi businesses still hold on to a view that harm won’t happen to them or that applying health & safety practices will hinder their business in some way… yet, through the Safest Place to Work Awards we see 30+ organisations who have demonstrated it can be done well, and in doing it well, not only are their workers healthier and safer, but their business is performing better overall in terms of productivity and profitability” says Hight. “In recognising these exemplary businesses, we want to inspire others and show a pathway towards ‘what good looks like’ so that we improve our performance as NZ Inc” says Kidd.

Full List of 2019 Safest Place to Work Awards:

• Supreme Award - Kainga Ora Homes and Communities
• Large Business (sponsored by HASANZ) - Kainga Ora Homes and Communities
• Medium Business (sponsored by AdviceFirst) – Allied Laundry Services Ltd
• Small Business (sponsored by NZISM) – TKL Logistics Ltd
• Safe365 Partner of the Year – Pillar Consulting
•  Spencer Henshaw: This innovation award is for leadership and excellence in supply chain management.
• Auckland Council: For health and safety innovation and leadership across the entire Auckland Council organisation, demonstrating that real and meaningful change is achievable in very large, complex public sector organisations.
• Auckland, Hawkes Bay and Hutt Valley District Health Boards: For innovation and sector level collaboration in the supply chains across the 3 DHB’s of Auckland, Hawkes Bay and Hutt Valley through the “Making Health Safer” Project.
• Kapura: For innovation in managing the health and safety capability and culture across a multiple site organisation & empowering local management to take ownership and accountability for their health and safety outcomes while maintaining visibility and providing targeted support across the group.
• Gibbons Contractors: For innovation in measuring, monitoring and improving the health and safety capability of multiple contractors when engaged in complex construction projects.
• Harrisville Primary School and Bombay Primary School: For demonstrating health & safety leadership in the Education Sector.