In the DC comic story, a flying Superman spies Lois Lane tied across a railroad line. A fast-moving passenger train is but metres away. Superman swoops down. With a single out-stretched arm he stops the iron monster dead in its tracks. He has saved Lois. What else could matter? Well, the comic book did not do a cost-benefit assessment. But the plausible tally is one life saved and hundreds killed or injured in the concertinaed train. Enter WorkSafe NZ. Read more

A NZIER report released this week discredits a WorkSafe NZ safety programme that started in November 2011.  The programme aims to reduce workplace falls from heights of below 3 metres.   We all agree that safety is important. So is cost. Anyone who cares about safety has to care about the cost of achieving it. Otherwise they fail to spend where the safety gains are greatest.   The cost increases are material. Read more

Almost a month after the election, New Zealand is about to have a new government. Yes, other countries take longer to negotiate coalitions. But it was the uncertainty arising from parallel negotiations which made our post-election haggling an agony. It is good it is over. Congratulations to Prime Minister-designate Jacinda Ardern. Coming out of relative obscurity, she had promised the campaign of her life. She delivered it. Read more

If no person’s life, liberty or property are safe while Parliament is in session, what’s the rush to have a new government? As I write this column, no coalition has been struck. Journalists stake out Parliament’s parking garage trying to divine the will of Winston from cryptic hints he might there provide. And if you took the newspaper headlines too seriously, you might think that New Zealand would sink under the ocean if coalitions weren’t formed by whatever date Winston... Read more