From the magazine

New Zealand Councillor & Vice-Chairman’s report

Following the 2012 Report from the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine tragedy, there have been a number of amendments to various workplace safety regulations, particularly affecting the tunnelling industry and the definition of what a tunnel is. These changes can now include trenchless operations, such as microtunnelling, that were previously not considered as mines or tunnels.

Dave Bellet’s excellent article in December’s edition of Trenchless Australasia discussed these changes in some detail. Up until now, how these changes affect trenchless operations has not been well understood, and this is partly due to lack of clear guidelines on the matter. I believe that many in the industry still do not know whether the changes apply to their projects or not.

Because this is an important issue, Dave Bellet from WorkSafe NZ will be presenting his articles and discussing how the changes affect trenchless projects at our next Auckland NZ Trenchless Technology Forum on 26 March 2015.

The Pike River Mine Disaster also had an impact on the roles and accountability of company directors for health and safety in carrying out projects. As a result, the directors of contracting and consulting companies and utilities will all be taking a greater interest and participation in how workplace health and safety is managed at all levels. WorkSafe NZ has stated that all of the changes are intended to ensure that people are safer within the workplace and nobody can argue with that.

This March also saw two more New Zealand Trenchless Technology Forums: Christchurch on 18 March at the Novotel in Cathedral Square, and Auckland on the 26 March at the Heritage Hotel. Both events’ respective presentation programs were full and delivered excellent opportunities to learn and network. I thank everyone who attended and I look forward to catching up again at future events.

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