Work Related Road Safety Harm Reduction Action Plan

Mackie Research is leading the development of a Harm Reduction Action Plan for Waka Kotahi’s work-related road safety programme. The vision for the programme is that work-related road safety is treated as a critical health and safety risk and there is continuous improvement in how its managed. At the moment work-related road safety straddles the domains of occupational health and safety, and road safety. Responsibilities, leadership, and effort to reduce harm are not clear, but all of those in the system have a role to play, from government through to industry organisations, and businesses. Currently 50-70% of work-related fatalities occur on New Zealand roads and 25% of all deaths and serious injuries on our roads are work-related, so focused and evidence-based effort is needed.

​​Key parts of the Harm Reduction Action Plan are an indicative list of promising interventions that could benefit from further investment, and an investment decision process that can be used to test the merits of any intervention. The investment decision process is designed to ensure that any investment responds to a clear problem, has an evidence base, is feasible, can be tested and evaluated, and ultimately can be implemented at scale. The goal is to ensure that investment decisions in work-related road safety are transparent, robust, and good value for money. The focus is on professional drivers, professional travellers, third parties, commuters, and people working on the road.

​The harm reduction action plan will be completed in October, at which time government, industry, and stakeholders will be better equipped to make good investment decisions, and reduce harm to people working on and around our roads.