Daniel Hummerdal has deep experience in developing new approaches to improving health and safety performance in a work environment, and WorkSafe’s Chief Operating Officer Phil Parkes says attracting Mr Hummerdal to WorkSafe is a coup for the agency.

‘Daniel is an extraordinary talent and he will be at the forefront of moving the health and safety system in New Zealand toward new practices, tactics and strategies,’ Mr Parkes says.

‘He brings a background in the development and implementation of Safety II and Safety Differently approaches to health and safety. These approaches move health and safety practices from pure compliance to a people and success-led approach and they are accepted worldwide as the future way of improving health and safety performance.’

‘WorkSafe is mandated to lead the country’s health and safety system towards significant improvements, and the system needs people like Daniel to challenge the traditional models and spark new approaches,’ Mr Parkes says.

Mr Hummerdal says the Chief Advisor Health and Safety Innovation role is unique amongst health and safety regulators around the world.

‘Health and safety practitioners in New Zealand have always shown they’re open and willing to try new ideas, more so in my experience than anywhere else in the world. This presents me with a fantastic opportunity to try some cool new ideas to create a new future for health and safety in New Zealand,’ he says.

Mr Hummerdal will take up his role on 1 October.