New appointments to WorkSafe board to tackle financial mismanagement

Minister for WorkSafe Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden says three people have been appointed to the WorkSafe board to strengthen the organization and ensure it has the skills and knowledge to carry out its functions.

“WorkSafe faced many challenges, including the accumulation of a deficit of almost $18 million under the previous government,” Ms van Velden says.

An independent review conducted by SageBush in 2022 found that WorkSafe does not have a clear framework or tools to assess the value of its activities or guide resource allocation decisions. Moreover, WorkSafe was unable to describe how its regulatory activities contribute to achieving its goals.

“The historic issues surrounding WorkSafe were brought to my attention during my first briefing as a new minister. Since then, I have worked with the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment as Crown Monitor to understand WorkSafe needs and the way forward.

“It is clear to me that the Board could benefit from strong financial expertise and I am pleased that these new Board members bring a wealth of governance and financial management experience to ensure WorkSafe performs its core role effectively,” says Ms. van Velden.

The three new appointments cover three-year terms and fill vacant positions.

“Elena Trout is an experienced independent director and chair and the current independent chair of the WorkSafe New Zealand Audit, Risk and Finance Committee. He has extensive management experience and brings a strong understanding of public accountability to the board.

Kevin Jenkins is a finance, management and risk specialist with extensive experience in the public and private sectors and deep experience in public sector regulation and management.

Paul Connell is a finance and management professional working across a wide range of sectors with extensive knowledge of public accountability, finance and management practices.

“I am confident that these appointments will help the organization build on the progress it has made to ensure the entity’s financial sustainability and address the findings of the SageBush review.

“Ensuring the sustainability of WorkSafe and its core functions is my priority and I will be responsible for WorkSafe.

“I recently launched a wider consultation on health and safety, which includes receiving feedback on the public’s experiences of WorkSafe. I want to know whether people working in the system find their interactions with WorkSafe useful, sensible and timely, because having an effective regulator is a key part of the health and safety system.”

Contact with the media: Florence Faumuin +6421 804 382

Notes for the editor:

Source: Ula