Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) have revised the Accredited Employer Program (AEP) Safety and Injury Management Audit standards which became effective from 1 April 2017.
The audit standards for the AEP are designed to help employers create safer workplaces and establish a minimum acceptable benchmark for health, safety and injury management at work and set the expectation of continuous improvement of workplace health and safety systems.
The audit standards are divided into three main parts:
- Safety management practices including workplace observation
- Injury management, including claims administration and rehabilitation
- Focus group interviews with management and employees and selected case studies to confirm safe systems in action.
Gallagher Bassett (GB) was a strong advocate for amending the old audit standards to introduce a focus on good outcomes for participants in the AEP Programme. There is a transition period of six months to embed the new the audit standards and they will be subject to a regular review process to maintain alignment to international good practice health and safety standards, and to ensure they are adapted to the New Zealand legislative and workplace environment.
GB is available to assist any AEP employer who has any questions or requires assistance with the audit changes. We will be working closely with all of our current clients to identify any process changes, training requirements and ensure compliance with the new audit tool. If you have any questions about the changes please contact Jan Hayhow.
