Health and Safety Connexions Ltd

12/09/2025

Great to hear that most farmers are doing H&S well. Farms are also homes so vital to protect workers from harm. Keep up the great work!🥰

We’ve got some early insights from the field! Over the past two months, our inspectors have visited over 460 horticulture businesses—and overall, they’re pretty happy with what they’ve seen. But there are a few key areas where improvements could make a real difference:

🔸 Vehicle maintenance and power take-off (PTO) shafts safety: Tractors and other machinery must be properly maintained, and PTO shafts must be guarded. We’ve seen recent incidents involving unguarded PTOs that led to serious injuries, including amputations.

🔸 Hazardous substances: Businesses need to manage pesticides, fertilisers, and other hazardous substances safely—this includes keeping a complete inventory and ensuring correct storage and use.

More information on the horticulture assessments will be available next month.

For practical guidance and resources, visit: www.worksafe.govt.nz/agriculture

11/09/2025

So many commercial and general motorists have no idea what the purple flashing lights in a pilot vehicle mean...great to be able to share this

Load pilots provide warning to other road users - including Truckies - about oversize loads travelling on NZ's roads.

11/09/2025

Pretty happy to have been finalists in this year's MPDC Bayleys Business Awards. Very stoked to celebrate with the People's Choice winners, Well deserved! Great night celebrating our district's successful businesses with some of our team🍾

27/08/2025

Health and safety compliance eating up all your time?

Most companies using paper-based systems or under utilised systems spend up to 50% more time than they need to with health and safety admin.

That’s lost productivity. That’s real money.

Recently we introduced a solution for businesses who want to slash their compliance/time costs, increase accountability and reduce risk.

It’s called SafeTrak and the businesses who use it show a huge reduction in wasted time, duplicated tasks and follow up.

It’s transforming health and safety for those that are now using it and saving a lot of money.

Stop spending time on paperwork and start focusing on what really matters. Ready to see how we can help you save time, reduce risk, and get your team more engaged?

Book a Free No Obligation Demo by emailing support@hsconnexions.co.nz

21/08/2025

Pleased to have been given the opportunity to sponsor the conference Partners Program this year. Such a vital industry moving buildings, structures and heavy machinery throughout the country on roads not generally designed for oversized vehicles

13/08/2025

💚 Sponsor in the Spotlight – Health and Safety Connexions Ltd 🤍

We’re proud to shine a light on H&S Connexions, a local business with a big heart for people and community.

They’re not your average H&S company, Tracey and the team bring a practical, down to earth approach, working alongside you to make sure your people get home safely from the worksite, sports club, or farm. Their focus is on keeping safety simple, effective, and tailored to suit your team, so it’s something that works in the real world, not just on paper.
From one on one advice to complete workplace solutions, H&S Connexions are passionate about helping local businesses, clubs, and rural operations create safer environments without unnecessary complexity.

We’re incredibly grateful for their generous support towards our Junior Rugby. Your backing helps keep our kids on the field, learning, growing, and having fun while staying safe both on and off the field.

Thank you, H&S Connexions, for being part of our Kereone family! 🏉💚🤍

www.hsconnexions.co.nz

11/08/2025

08/08/2025

It was an obvious decision to support the helping to keep us and our properties safe

🌟 Local Legend Thursday 🌟

A massive shoutout to the team at Health and Safety Connexions for their generous donation to the Morrinsville Community Patrol! 💙

Support from local businesses like this helps us keep the patrol car on the road, making our streets safer for everyone.

Thanks for backing your community—you're absolute legends! 👏🚓

08/08/2025

Definitely proud to be supporting such a great asset for our town😍

08/08/2025

Our fabulous team are finalists again this year with even more awesome successes during 2025! Good luck to us🤩

22/07/2025

What Small Trades Businesses Need to Know About Health & Safety Changes
If you run a small trades business, you might have heard about the government's latest announcements around health and safety. After reviewing the changes, Tracey Stevenson, your local health and safety professional and owner of H&S Connexions in Morrinsville, says there's one clear message for tradies:
👉 For most businesses — it’s business as usual. No real change.
Here’s what’s going on:
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden has announced tweaks to New Zealand’s health and safety laws. The main goal is to make health and safety simpler and reduce compliance headaches for small businesses. Sounds good, right?
However, as Tracey explains, the core duties haven’t changed.
"Critical risks still need to be actively managed — and for a lot of our clients who are trades businesses, that means no change." — Tracey Stevenson
What are “critical risks”?
Critical risks are the hazards that can cause serious injury, illness, or death if they aren’t properly controlled.
In other words, the big stuff — things like:
👉 Working at heights
👉 Using heavy machinery
👉 Electrical work
👉 Excavations
👉 Asbestos exposure
Whether you're a builder, plumber, electrician, roofer, or landscaper, you still need to manage these risks properly — regardless of any legislative tweaks.
So What’s Actually Changing?
The government's reforms focus on:
1. Simplifying duties for small, low-risk businesses (think retailers, not trades).
2. Sharpening the focus of the law so it’s all about managing critical risks, not ticking boxes.
3. Reducing duplication where different laws overlap.
4. Easing compliance costs (e.g., you’ll only need to report major incidents to WorkSafe, not minor ones).
5. Introducing a public hotline to report unnecessary overuse of road cones (yes, really!).
6. Clarifying landowners' responsibilities (good news if you work on farms or private properties).
7. Reducing confusion for directors and business owners around their legal duties.
Important: None of these changes mean you can slack off on managing serious risks. The Health and Safety at Work Act still expects you to identify, control, and monitor anything that could seriously harm your team.
Key Takeaway for Trades Businesses
✅ Keep doing what you’re doing.
✅ Stay focused on controlling critical risks.
✅ Don't overcomplicate your paperwork — but make sure you can show you're managing safety properly.
If you’re unsure whether your health and safety systems are up to scratch, it’s a great time to check in with an expert like Tracey Stevenson at H&S Connexions. Her advice is simple:
"Keep health and safety practical, not painful — and stay focused on what really matters: preventing serious injuries/illnesses."

Next week we talk about how ACC disagrees with the proposed changes and what you can do.