Although not a lot of people are going to realise this, but tomorrow is a momentous occasion in New Zealand's history. Okay, so its not going to make newspaper headlines, such as the potential changing of the flag, the antics of Kim Dot Com or the arrival of yet another member of the British Royal family, but it should.
For tomorrow is the day that New Zealand stops killing its own people. See told you. It's huge. Yes today the much needed yet much delayed Health and Safety at Work comes into force. It may not sound like much, especially to those who have lived or worked in the UK, but this a huge step forward.
Yes, there are times when health and safety in the UK appears to have gone too far, but it is never as bad as the press would have you believe. And if a few headline grabbing stories are the price of keeping avoidable deaths ....well avoided...then so be it.
So what is it exactly? Well from tomorrow, it will be a legal requirement for designers to consider the impact that whatever they produce will have on people constructing, using and maintaining it. It sounds like a simple and, as some might think, a common sense approach to ensuring the safety of others. But if it was common sense then why, up to this point, does New Zealand kill nearly four times more people per capita than their close neighbours Australia and nearly 8 times more than the UK?
Sometimes I think Kiwis have a death wish. It's not as if they are deliberately reckless, they are genuinely the kindest, friendliest and considerate people I have met, it's just that they appear to be unable to consider the consequences of their actions.
You think I'm exaggerating? Well how about this event as an example. During a recent office meeting it was announced that, who ever was responsible for putting hydrochloric acid in the eye wash bottle, could they please stop because it was a potential safety hazard. Pardon my Anglo-Saxon, but fucking potential? To be fair, the person who did this was thoughtful enough to write in pen on the eye wash container 'Do not use - contains acid' but I would imagine that, if you had need for some eye wash, then the last thing you would think to do, before pouring acid on an already serious situation, would be to read some scrawled biro warning.
Still not convinced? Well how about the recently circulated photo of a colleague who convinced an excavator driver to 'give him a go' of his earth moving machinery. How do we know? Well he had the forethought to have a photo taken to send to his workmates in the office proudly claiming 'And you thought I was just taking measurements - look what I'm doing on site!' I imagine that the fact that this machine was at the top of a eight metre slope only added to the spice of the occasion. She'll be right.
Then only last week a car plunged three stories out of a multi-storey car park into the street below. Surprised passers by reported that the car appeared to fly through the air before flipping and falling onto its roof. Thankfully, or should that be miraculously, no one was killed. I can only imagine the shock on the driver's face, as the car plummeted towards the ground, thinking as he fell "Now who would've thought that those barriers weren't designed to take the impact loading of a small family car?"
So, as you can see, it's a much needed piece of legislation and brought in not a moment too soon. It's been a painful process getting it through parliament with numerous redrafts, edits, objections and debate.
But what's clear is that, whilst you can legislate against reckless behaviour, it's going to take a lot longer to change attitudes. Putting safety first is a new way of thinking for many and to undo years of bad practice is going to take time. But it's a step in the right direction and one that I am happy to help with. Who knows, maybe in a few years time someone like me won't have to spend two hours in a meeting convincing a client that putting manholes in the running lane of a State Highway is probably a bad idea and that the extra cost to avoid doing so is one worth paying. Maybe. It's a nice thought.
But until then, well done New Zealand. You've made a huge step and have shown that you are committed to putting safety first and you know what? I think she really will be right!
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