Puataunofo 'Come Home Safely' Project wins national recognition

5 June 2012

At this year’s New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards, the Puataunofo 'Come Home Safely' Project was presented with the ACC best leadership of an industry sector award.

Health and safety awards were presented in 11 categories, at a gala dinner at SKYCITY Convention Centre in Auckland on 30 May 2012. Over 400 people attended and celebrated the achievements of a wide variety of successful health and safety initiatives.

The Puataunofo "Come Home Safely" Project Team and supporters. Hans Key of the Department of Labour holds the ACC best leadership of an industry sector award.

The Puataunofo 'Come Home Safely' Project is a continually evolving multi-agency initiative which has raised awareness of workplace health and safety among Pacific workers, their families and employers. Using Pacific languages and cultural norms, it delivers the safety message to manufacturing workers in a way which has proven to be meaningful and effective.

Watch a video about Puataunofo "Come Home Safely" as featured on Tagata Pasifika on 10 May 2012.

The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs acknowledges the late Toni Pole, a former colleague, and the late Tanu Toso, a Samoan community activist, for their role in starting this project.

The awards, in their eighth year, are organised by Safeguard magazine and supported by the Department of Labour. The awards are judged by a five-strong panel representing the Department of Labour, ACC, NZ Council of Trade Unions, Safeguard, and an industry health and safety practitioner.

Convenor of judges Peter Bateman, who represented Safeguard, said the more than 120 entries reflected the diverse and creative but usually unheralded efforts of many people around the country to help ensure people at work remain safe and healthy.

Countdown Logistics won the Supreme Award at this year’s New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards. The company won the health hazard category with a multi-faceted and comprehensive approach to address injuries arising from manual handling.