Over $2 million granted to improve safety in manufacturing sector
In our final round of ACC Workplace Injury Prevention grants, three initiatives will receive $2.17 million from ACC to be developed and used in the manufacturing sector.
The purpose of ACC’s Workplace Injury Prevention grants is to provide funding to solve workplace health and safety challenges.
“We want these grants to be a catalyst for major health and safety improvements across Aotearoa New Zealand by developing, sharing, investing in, and implementing solutions to problems,” ACC Workplace Safety Manager Paula Wood says.
Each grant round focuses on different priorities, Paula says.
These are based on discussions with internal and external stakeholders, and it’s also informed by ACC data to identify areas which would benefit from innovation or capability development, she says.
ACC’s fifth round of workplace injury prevention grants focuses on improving health and safety in the manufacturing sector.
“For this grant round, we’re looking for initiatives that can eliminate or significantly reduce hazards and lower injuries through good work design approaches, or the adoption of effective technology and engineered solutions.”
Three recipients awarded funding
The recipients are: Haumaru HS, Rush Digital and Reloc8 NZ Limited.
Haumaru HS has been awarded $520,000 to create an app to help connect Māori workers to Matauranga Māori in the workplace, combining cultural practice with traditional health and safety processes.
Rush Digital has been awarded $935,000 to use a combination of CCTV and AI to monitor real-time movements of people and objects, providing insights into hazards that could lead to injury. Using these insights, they aim to create solutions to reduce harm through good workplace design.
Reloc8 NZ Limited has been awarded $715,000 to develop and refine an innovative aluminium pallet cage designed to more easily load, move and empty products that are hard to pallet, such as end-of-life car bumpers, which can then put workers at risk of injury.
The aluminium pallet cage developed by Reloc8 NZ.
High harm and injury rates in manufacturing
Manufacturing is one of New Zealand's biggest sectors, employing around 200,000 people across 18,000 businesses and 15 sub-industries.
It also experiences one of the highest rates of harm and injury.
Today, the costs of work-related injuries in manufacturing amount to 19 per cent of ACC’s total weekly compensation costs, compared to 15 per cent in 2015.
In 2022, injury claims in manufacturing resulted in 240,400 lost workdays.
Each compensation claim today amounts to 25 days off work on average, compared to 20 days off work 10 years ago.
“To date, large investment has already been made in other high-risk priority sectors, and we now want to do the same in manufacturing,” Paula says.
Manufacturing has an estimated $1.23 billion burden on the New Zealand economy each year from work-related injuries in the sector, according to a recent report from the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA).
“We want to support manufacturing businesses in creating evidence-based solutions to create safer workplaces,” Paula says.
“It’s important we work together to address the health and safety challenges of kaimahi (workers).
“We’re looking forward to seeing the three projects come to life.”
Over $18 million awarded in total
This year is the final round of ACC’s Workplace Injury Prevention grants.
This five-year programme of investment began in 2019. Over the five grant rounds, ACC has invested $18.67 million in grants.
A full list of ACC grant projects can be found on our website.
ACC Workplace Injury Prevention grants for 2025
Haumaru HS, Uplifting Māori in the workplace
Haumaru HS has been awarded $520,000 to create an app to help connect Māori workers to Mātauranga Māori in the workplace.
The Me Mataara app will include check-ins, surveys and videos to help enhance traditional health and safety processes in the workplace.
They will first test it with one Māori-owned dairy processing business, and they intend to scale across the manufacturing sector.
Haumaru HS also aim to provide access to business case templates, to help other businesses invest in Mātauranga Māori.
Rush Digital, Using Technology to reduce hazards
Rush Digital has been awarded $935,000 to use a combination of CCTV and AI to monitor real-time movements of people and objects, providing insights into hazards that could lead to injury.
Using these insights, they aim to create solutions to reduce harm through good workplace design.
The project prioritises organisations operating in high-risk industrial environments with significant workplace hazards and safety concerns.
Reloc8 NZ Limited, Pallet cages make lighter work
Reloc8 NZ Limited has been awarded $715,000 to develop and refine an innovative aluminium pallet cage to more easily load, move and empty products that are hard to pallet, primarily end-of-life car bumpers and end-of-life tyres.
This will address the physical challenges in handling these larger, heavier items that can lead to injury in workers.
Some additional products that are hard to palletise and included as part of this project include newly-manufactured furniture and kitchen cabinetry.
