World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, Sydney 2023
Insights and learnings from New Zealand Participants
The World Congress 2023 project fell under the FutureSafe Aotearoa initiative and was in perfect alignment with it’s mission to foster collaboration and enhance capability across Aotearoa’s health and safety system.
This project brought together the attendees of the 23rd World Congress for Safety and Health at Work, gathered valuable insights and produced a summary report highlighting key takeaways for the benefit of all health and safety professionals.
About the World Congress Project
The 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, held in Sydney in November 2023, with approximately 3500 attendees, allowed many leaders and health and safety professionals to hear views from across the world and take away new learnings, insights and ideas.
FutureSafe Aotearoa recognised the value in bringing together participants to identify the learning and themes from the congress. To facilitate this process, ACC agreed to coordinate the efforts and commissioned Beginner’s Mind (Navona partner) to undertake the work.
The project team collated the feedback and learnings from New Zealand attendees via a short survey from 23 of the 29 New Zealand attendees identified, followed by an online workshop. This workshop provided an opportunity for participants to meet each other, discuss their insights and share views. The insights gathered were then compiled into this report, to be shared online and throughout the growing health, safety, and wellbeing community.
What is World Congress for Safety and Health at Work?
The World Congress for Safety and Health at Work is an opportunity to gather and connect with global leaders in safety and harm prevention.
World Congress is convened every three years by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which represents 187 member states (countries). The ILO, initiated in 1919, represents both business (associations) and workers (unions). The World Congress for Safety and Health at Work conference has been meeting since 1955. It was held in Singapore in 2017, planned for Canada in 2020 but interrupted by COVID and most recently held in Sydney in November 2023 across five days.
The congress covers new work health and safety ideas, shares insights into the latest research, and covers innovative solutions for workplaces while building strategic alliances and partnerships to advance work health and safety.
There were opportunities to network and participate in workshops, forums, technical sessions, roundtable conversations and more. Participants learned about emerging trends, developed skills to mitigate new risks and gained knowledge of work health and safety best practices.
INSHPO (International Network of Safety & Health Professional Organisations) also held its annual meeting prior to the World Congress conference, with a number of New Zealand conference participants attending.
Key Themes
Through the survey form and online workshops, the project team were able to identify eight key themes. These key themes were highlighted by several project participants and were touched on throughout the conference itself. For detailed information about these key themes, please download the report.
Vision Zero
Innovation and New Technologies
Mental health and Psychological Safety
Safety Culture and Leadership
Emerging Risks
Local vs Global Approaches
Systemic Integration and Future Orientation
Regulatory and Compliance Perspectives
Download Report
Navona would like to thank all World Congress 2023 project participants.
Arthur Shaw, ACC
Brenton Harrison, Savory Construction
Brent Sutton, Learning Teams
Bridgette Jennings, FAMANZ
Bronwyn Presland, HASANZ
Chris Alderson, CHASNZ
Cushla Beale, AsureQuality
Deborah Pitout, ASB
Denva Wren, Woolworths NZ
Francois Barton, BLHSF
Georgi Toma, Heart Brain Works
Grant Nicholson, Anthony Harper
Greg Dearsly, First4Safety/INSHPO
Joanne Crawford, Victoria University
Katrina Berry, Ngai Tahu
Mark Green, Contact Energy
Mike O’Brien, HASANZ/Navona
Moira King, NZDF
Nicola Knobel, Plunket
Olivia Welsh, Anthony Harper
Pam Mitchell, Tamaki Health
Paula Herring, ACC
Peter Bateman, Safeguard
Petra Hakansson, Guardian Angel
Robert Keenan, NZ Post
Robyn Bennett, NZISM