Wellbeing Strategy for New Zealand Workplaces

Welcome to the course Wellbeing Strategy for New Zealand Workplaces. This comprehensive program is specifically designed for health and safety leaders, practitioners, and officers within the New Zealand public sector. Drawing extensively from the Government Health and Safety Lead’s guide and strategic insights from Te Hiringa Mahara, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, this course equips you with the frameworks necessary to design and maintain mentally healthy work environments.

Moving beyond reactive individual interventions, you will explore how to implement proactive work design that prevents mental harm at the source. The curriculum navigates the core principles of managing mental wellbeing under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, alongside the broader strategic landscape of system-level oversight and equity.

Throughout the chapters, you will gain critical insights into:

• Distinguishing between mental health and mental wellbeing, and understanding the continuum from unwell to thriving.
• Navigating legal obligations, identifying psychosocial risks, and applying the hierarchy of controls with a focus on primary interventions.
• Defining the specific responsibilities of officers, managers, and workers, and establishing assurance mechanisms to verify that controls are effective.
• The mandate of Te Hiringa Mahara, its commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the role of lived experience in shaping policy.
• Advancing equitable outcomes for Māori and priority populations, and utilizing the He Ara Āwhina framework for system performance monitoring.

By the end of this course, you will understand how to balance protective factors against risk factors, ensuring your agency complies with legal duties and fosters a culture of good work. Join us to learn how to create a workplace where workers are supported in moving towards the thriving end of the mental wellbeing continuum.