HASANZ has partnered with WorkSafe NZ, Hazardous Substances Professionals NZ (HSPNZ) and the NZ Institute for Hazardous Substances Management (NZIHSM) to address the career and training needs of Hazardous Substances Compliance Certifiers.

Hazardous Substances Compliance Certifiers are qualified professionals authorised by WorkSafe NZ to issue a compliance certificate. A compliance certificate confirms that an individual, workplace or equipment complies with all the requirements of the Health and Safety (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017.

Hazardous substances compliance is an important profession because it ensures hazardous substances in the workplace are safely handled and stored.

Incorrect handling, storage or exposure of these substances can lead to serious health harms.

Why we need a Hazardous Substances Initiative

We need more Hazardous Substance Compliance Certifiers in the workforce. The number of qualified compliance certifiers has reduced over the past few years and there is a significant shortage in the workforce. We need to ensure we have enough people entering the profession to meet current and future demands of the industries they serve.

We identified that there was no clear pathway or competency framework to attract and retain people in the profession.

The Hazardous Substances Compliance Certifiers Workforce Initiative is a programme of work that’s been established to address the training needs of the profession and to promote compliance certifiers as a viable health and safety career.

The overall aim of the initiative is to ensure New Zealand’s compliance certification scheme is sustainable by building the number of capable, competent and qualified compliance certifiers.  

What will the initiative do?

Establish a competency framework and develop a training model to support training programmes for compliance certifiers. 

Implement an attraction strategy to encourage suitable people into the profession. The strategy is targeted at young people starting their careers, other hazardous substances professionals wanting to broaden their scope of expertise, and other health and safety professionals who may want to broaden their expertise to include compliance certification.

Learning Pathways for Compliance Certifiers

HASANZ in-conjunction with HSPNZ, NZIHSM, Skills Organisation and Massey University, with support of WorkSafe are developing a hazardous substances training programme. This programme is the start of a learning pathway for Compliance Certifiers. It is also available to those who wish to develop their hazardous substance knowledge for their workplace or professional development.

The first part of the programme is undertaking two papers at Massey University:

• 251.272 - Occupational Health and Safety 2 is available with a hazardous substance focus. Apply from Semester 2, June 2021.
• 250.318 - Special Topic - Hazardous Substances Compliance Certifier - available to apply from January 2022.

This course of learning is a great opportunity to develop hazardous substance management understanding, along with an appreciation of the requirements of Compliance Certifiers.  Please contact Assoc Prof Ian Laird I.S.Laird@massey.ac.nz if you are interested in attending these courses.  There are more specialised courses in the pipeline available in the future which builds on the Massey University papers.

Find out more about what is involved in becoming a Hazardous Substances Compliance Certifier by viewing the following videos: