Citycare Property Waikato celebrates first Health and Safety Day

On Friday, 28 October, the Waikato Branch of Citycare Property held its first Health and Safety Day. Its purpose was to give field staff an opportunity to learn about plant maintenance and innovations within the industry, as well as to broaden their understanding of Health and Safety management and to undertake refresher training for plant operation competencies. 

It was also an opportunity for the team to come together and recognise the first Waikato Health and Safety Person of The Year. In attendance were representatives from Agrilife and Stihl Shop, as well as officers from Waikato District Council’s parks team. Other members from the wider Citycare Property whānau, including Dave Mills, General Manager – Corporate Services, were also there to help run the activity stations. 

Keeping Health and Safety to the forefront 

Upskilling and learning were the underlying themes of the day. There were two types of competency activities: refresher training — including hedge and line trimmer competency, small truck operation and blovac training, which pitted team members against each other around an obstacle course — and learning-based activities where team members worked through hazard identification, first aid and emergency response, and risk assessment and management scenarios.

As part of the competency activities on the day, the team competed in a blovac obstacle course to test their handling and coordination skills.

Additional learning activities included demonstrations from the Agrilife team on proper maintenance and operation of the outfront and walker mowers, and the Stihl Shop team, who also shared information on their latest products and innovations.

There was also time for the team to focus on supporting wellbeing with the recent introduction to the branch of the Te Whare Tapa Whā — the four cornerstones of health — model. “This activity had the team working together to identify what they could do to support the different aspects of their wellbeing — mental, physical, spiritual, whanau and connection to whenua,” says Branch Manager, Kim Wood.

For the wellbeing component, team members were put into groups and tasked with coming up with ideas they could implement to support wellbeing.

And the winner is…

Then it was time to announce the Waikato Health and Safety Person of the Year from amongst the four nominees — Reece Tangaroa, Rob Orton, Dawn Paterson and Jaime Tupaea.

The award was created to recognise those staff who have gone above and beyond, with branch team leaders each nominating one person who they felt were deserving of this recognition due to their ongoing contribution to the management of health and safety and level of care demonstrated towards their teammates.

Jaime Tupaea was voted Waikato Health and Safety Person of the Year. Safety and Wellness Manager, Kyle Earnshaw was on hand to present Jaime with her award.

Throughout the day, all staff members and guests were invited to vote for one of the nominees. When votes were counted, Jaime Tupaea was voted Waikato Health and Safety Person of the Year, with her award being presented by Safety and Wellness Manager, Kyle Earnshaw.