WEBINAR - Assuming a Worst Case Scenario … Every Time!

This event is now passed and available on-demand. Please register and you will receive a dedicated link to watch the webinar

This is a free webinar for all ALGA and WasteMINZ members

In 2019 ALGA and WasteMINZ collaborated with Vertical Horizonz to develop a short course, the Contaminated Site Safety Certificate, to raise the awareness of, especially, less experienced people entering and working on contaminated and potentially contaminated sites. The course identified a range of physical and chemical hazards at such sites and explained and trained controls that a person might use to help keep themselves safe. The course met the specific training requirements identified within both Australian and New Zealand Health and Safety legislation. It filled an identified training gap.

This webinar explores the underlying premise of the Contaminated Site Safety Certificate course: The need to train a precautionary approach and maintain this by systemising actions that can help manage risks of exposure and/or contamination - it may be days before a site’s sample yields lethal secrets. It looks at the meaning of ‘practicable’ in terms of the preparation for work on contaminated and/or potentially contaminated sites. And it proposes such practicable precautionary actions be mandated as a professional practice by all workers on all contaminated or potentially contaminated sites.

All that is ‘green’ may not be ‘clean’.

Our Speaker

Andrew Saunders,
Worksafe NZ Compliance Certifier

After leaving James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, Andrew joined the Specialty Chemical Division of Campbel Dubois in Brisbane. He worked on teams to resolve problems through chemical means. The work brought him to the coalface of a wide range of industries and introduced him to their specific challenges. During this time he became interested in the applied sciences and teaching people to use technology in safe and meaningful ways.

In 1991 Andrew immigrated to Whangarei, New Zealand and joined Northland Polytechnic delivering and then managing the institution’s Technician training programmes. He spent the last eight of his 18 years at Northland Polytechnic developing, implementing and evaluating the curriculum and standards of a large number of programmes designed to equip people to work safely in industry. Andrew continued to consult for industry and teach and study throughout his career at the Polytechnic.

Andrew joined Vertical Horizonz as its Academic and Compliance Manager in 2009. He continues to consult and train against the requirements of the Hazardous Substance and New Organisms Act, the Health and Safety at Work Act, and the Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017. Andrew is a WorkSafe NZ Certifier, authorized to certify Certified Handlers, handling acutely toxic hazardous substances, Vertebrate Toxic Agents and Fumigants.
Andrew is based in Whangarei, New Zealand.