ATTENDEES
Present:
In attendance:
Apologies:
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Neil Pearce (NOHSAC Chair), Evan Dryson, Anne-Marie Feyer, Phillipa Gander, Selwyn McCracken.
Carol Slappendel (NOHSAC Secretariat – Department of Labour), Julie David (NOHSAC Secretariat – Department of Labour), Bob Hill (General Manager OSH - between 11:00am & 1:00pm only),
None.
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Minuted by
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Carol Slappendel and Julie David, Department of Labour
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Next Meeting:
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Monday, 15 December 2003.
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NOTES & ACTIONS
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TOPICS
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DESCRIPTION
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RESPONSI-BLE
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TARGET DATE
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1.Previous Minutes & Action Points
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• NOHSAC Minutes of 27 August 2003 – accepted with no change.
• All action points reviewed. Most action points completed. Outstanding action points noted. More particularly, it was noted that Actions 15, 16 & 17 need to be addressed prior to the December meeting of NOHSAC (hereafter also called the Committee).
• Unresolved actions from the August 2003 minutes are listed below with a “U” in front of the action number:
• Action U15: Neil Pearce is to write to the Director of NZHIS (with copies to the Minister of Labour) regarding the recording and coding of occupation on the National Minimum Data Set.
• Action U16: The committee members are to send papers to Neil Pearce on the issue raised under Action U15.
• Action U17: Anne-Marie Feyer is to seek information from Tim Driscoll regarding the automatic coding of the occupation free-text field.
• Some action points have been carried over from the August meeting as they were only due for completion by the December meeting. These are are listed below with a “C” in front of the action number:
• Action C2: The Secretariat is to finalise the budget bid before the end of this year.
• Action C3: The Committee agreed to adopt the name proposed by the Maori Language Commission, but the Secretariat is to explore the possibility of a shorter version of the Maori name for use when this is appropriate.
• Action C7: The Secretariat is to develop a communications strategy for the December NOHSAC meeting.
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2.NOHSAC Operation
Action 1
Action 2
Action 3
Action 4
Action 5
Action 6
Action 7
Action 8
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• Additional Secretariat Staff – The process of selection is underway with the aim of having the Project Manager and Administrative Support Officer starting in January 2004.
• The Committee agreed that DoL will determine the list of candidates to be shortlisted.
• The Committee agreed that the Chair (Neil Pearce) will be on the selection panel. However, if he is not available at the time of the interview, it was agreed that Phillipa Gander could be used as a NOHSAC representative.
• The Secretariat will contact the NOHSAC Chair to determine availability for the interview panel
• The Secretariat will need to advise the Candidates that the Committee will look at their applications and provide an input to the selection process.
• The Secretariat is to summarise the interview feedback and circulate to committee members for comments prior to reference check.
• Committee members are to provide feedback to the Secretariat prior to reference check.
• Financial Report – Total budget of $144,000 is available for the administration of the Committee. As at the end of September, savings on salaries of $33,000 had been made: these savings will be used to fund the Technical Report.
• Performance Indicators – Discussion around the Committee functions led by Anne-Marie Feyer. It was agreed that this needs to be further clarified so that indicators can be developed and measured.
• Anne-Marie is to develop performance indicators in the next two weeks and circulate to everyone (Circulation can be assisted by the Secretariat).
• Report to the Minister - The committee agreed the following approaches:
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1) Minister meeting with the Committee (quarterly)
2) Regular Chair meeting with the Minister
3) Annual Report to the Minister
4) Send briefing papers prior to meeting with the Minister.
5) Major public reports (need “no surprise approach” to the Minister)
6) Need PowerPoint presentation to Minister prior to Report Launch.
• The Secretariat is to check NHC system for annual reporting to the Minister.
• Subject to appropriate input from the Committee, the Secretariat is to provide briefing papers to the Minister prior to the December meeting.
• Committee members are to provide names of potential research providers to the Secretariat for addition to a provider database.
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Secretariat
Secretariat
Secretariat
Committee members
Anne-Marie Feyer
Secretariat
Secretariat
Committee
members
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Nov 03
Nov 03
Before
Dec
Meeting
Dec 03
14 Nov 03
Nov 03
Nov 03
Ongoing
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3.Bob Hill
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• The Committee met with Bob Hill, OSH General Manager, and found the exchange very useful. The most important points noted include:
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1) Acknowledgement of the need for a greater focus on work-related health issues as compared to safety issues – this needs to be reflected in more than one area of responsibility within OSH – This raises the problem of resources and skills within OSH.
2) Acknowledgement of the importance of external expectations about the relative balance between enforcement and assistance, with a stronger need for assistance especially in the area of health and access to meaningful information.
3) Recognition of the importance of serious non-fatal injuries and diseases in addition to fatal injuries and diseases – this needs to be reflected in the OSH strategic direction, otherwise there will be huge unresolved costs for New Zealand.
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4. RFP & Contract
Action 9
Action 10
Action 11
Action 12
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Government purchasing guidelines identify three main types of purchasing/ tendering processes:
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• Open tendering
• Selective tendering
• Direct negotiation
Open or selective tendering should be the norm for government departments, particularly for significant projects. Direct negotiation may be used in special circumstances: i.e. transaction costs of tendering would greatly outweigh the cost of the actual project; there are significant time constraints; and there is only one provider technically capable of doing the work.
NOHSAC is most likely to use a combination of selective tendering and direct negotiation processes. It may occur that the Committee may want invite a Committee member, or their research group, to participate in the selective tendering process. In that case, the Committee member will need to withdraw from all Committee processes relating to that project.
RFPs & Proposals
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• Copies of the RFP for the burden of occupational disease and injury project were provided to Committee members for their information.
• Two proposals were submitted and assessed. The Committee acknowledged the fact that both proposals were good and had different strengths and weaknesses. However the trade off was between:
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1) critical capacity to review literature/epidemiological expertise (Tim Driscoll).
2) Immediate availability/stronger New Zealand focus (Julian King).
• The Committee decided to offer a contract to Tim Driscoll subject to the following points:
1) Attendance at the December and April or June NOHSAC meetings
2) Acceptance that the costs of his travel and accommodation relating to these meetings will be met directly by the DoL.
3) Acknowledgement of his ability/willingness to access both published and unpublished New Zealand literature and provide a strong New Zealand focus in the Technical Report.
4) Commitment to establishing ongoing connection with the Committee Chair, the Secretariat, DoL library and relevant experts in New Zealand.
5) Reinforcement of his commitment to DoL timeframe as stated in the RFP.
6) Acceptance that his proposal will be a schedule to the contract.
7) Willingness to amend/correct his budget to reflect appropriate exchange rate between New Zealand and Australia as well as the additional time required to attend meetings.
8) Provision of his contact details in the proposal.
9) Commitment to make all relevant amendments to his proposal to reflect all the above points.
Draft Massey University Contract
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• The Committee asked Professor Pearce to leave the Committee room, so that the remaining committee members (Feyer, Dryson, Gander & McCracken) could discuss the draft Massey University contract for the development of a technical appendix to the Technical Report.
• The Committee members present agreed to offer the contract to Massey, University subject to the following points being agreed by Massey University and, where relevant, included as part of the contract:
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1) Specify the budget in terms of number of hours worked at an hourly rate.
2) Emphasise that the work is to be undertaken by Andrea ‘t Mannetje.
3) Ensure that Andrea ‘t Mannetje attends the December meeting.
4) Establish liaison with the provider for the Technical Report.
5) Clarifying who will be Massey’s signatory for the contract.
6) Review the Intellectual Property Clause.
• Neil Pearce is to ensure that the Massey University contract will include relevant amendments to reflect the above points and forward the revised version to the Secretariat.
• The Secretariat is to check the direct tendering process used by NHC.
• The Secretariat is to document the rationale for direct negotiation of the Massey University contract in a cover note for Bob Hill’s consideration prior to signing the contract.
• The Secretariat is to forward the Steenland et al and Messing et al articles to committee members together with the minutes of this meeting.
At the conclusion of this section of the agenda, Professor Pearce was asked to rejoin the Committee.
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Neil Pearce
Secretariat
Secretariat
Secretariat
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Nov 03
Nov 03
Nov 03
Nov 03
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5. Work Programme & Budget Bid
Action 13
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Work Programme
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• The Committee agreed on the following 3 year work programme of special reports on more detailed issues to follow on from the first report on the burden of occupational disease and injury:
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1) Year 1- 2004-05-
Surveillance of Occupational Disease and Injury – review the surveillance systems in use in New Zealand and internationally, and recommendations for improvements in surveillance of occupational disease and injury in New Zealand.
Surveillance of Occupational Hazards – a review of surveillance methods used in New Zealand and internationally to identify and monitor hazards and the extent to which they are being managed. Recommendations for more systematic and useful surveillance practices.
More detailed planning around the structure and content of the Report(s) will need to be addressed at the NOHSAC December meeting.
2) Year 2-2005-06-
Changes in the Work Environment – Review of changes in the work environment and emerging work-related issues in New Zealand to develop a research strategy for prevention purposes. This is a new addition to the work programme and will need to be discussed further at a NOHSAC meeting in the near future.
Musculoskeletal disorders – To be specified further.
3) Year 3 – 2006-07 –Tentative
Health and Safety Impact of Non-Standard Hours of Work – Literature review to update what we know about shiftwork, sleep loss, and circadian physiology.
Injury – to be specified further.
Relevant papers for the Research Agenda
The committee members are to forward relevant papers and references for Project 1(Burden of Injury) to the Secretariat for distribution prior to meetings.
Budget Bid – information requirements
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• The Committee discussed the benefits of NOHSAC’s work programme for inclusion in the rationale in the budget bid. The value added will include:
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1) Critical prerequisite to having an evidence based approach
2) Critical prerequisite to having priority-based resource allocation.
3) Important focus on occupational health
4) Important focus on prevention data
5) Potentially good for the New Zealand economy.
• There was discussion around the cost of the next reports in the work programme. The cost of each of these reports is likely to be greater than the cost ($55,000) of the first Technical Report. The cost might be as much as $100,000 for each report. Allowance also needs to be made for the communications activities (e.g. printing, website). The Secretariat needs to consider whether another Project Manager will be required.
Consultation Process
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• The Committee considered it important that there be consultation in relation to the first Technical Report. At a minimum the report will need to be sent out for peer review. Consultation process for the current Report on the Review of both the fatal and non-fatal injury and disease burden will need to be addressed at the December meeting.
• Reference was made to the Ministerial Advisory Panel on Work Related Gradual Process, Disease, or Infection intentions to consult with various community and advocacy groups, such as the Sawmill Against Poisons Group (SWAP). There may be an opportunity to combine consultation processes used by the Advisory Panel and NOHSAC and/or share mailing lists.
Recording & Coding of Occupations – Discussion and actions deferred to the December meeting.
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Committee members
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Ongoing
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6. Workplace Health and Safety Strategy
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Carol Slappendel presented the current progress made on the development of the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy, which includes:
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• WHSS Background Work Completed
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1) Work on definitions
2) Description of agencies
3) Environmental scan
4) Scan of global burden of occupational disease and injury
5) Review of national occupational health and safety strategies
6) Stock-take of agency visions and outcomes.
• WHSS Current and Planned Activity
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1) Outcomes, outcome hierarchies and intervention logic
2) Draft Strategy
3) Implementation Plan
4) Public Consultation
5) Evaluation Framework
• The Committee acknowledged the fact that this is a very important area of work.
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7. Other Actions
Action 14:
Action 15
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• Committee members are to forward to the Secretariat the issues to be addressed with the Minister at the December meeting so that the Secretariat can prepare a briefing paper to the Minister prior to the meeting.
• The secretariat is to organize the NOHSAC Christmas dinner for Monday the 15th of December at 7:00pm and invite the following people in addition to NOHSAC members and the Secretariat – Hon Margaret Wilson, Tania Ott, James Buwalda, Bob Hill, Tim Driscoll and Andrea ‘t Mannetje.
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Committee members
Secretariat
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Nov 03
Nov 03
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