2020 New Zealand Chinese construction industry health and safety webinar series concludes successfully
On 4 June, the sixth session of the 2020 New Zealand Chinese construction industry health and safety webinar series, the 2020 NZCBIA Build Safer Campaign, concluded successfully. Organised by the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association (NZCBIA), with support from ACC, Site Safe and EMA, the series had accompanied construction industry colleagues throughout lockdown. Its conclusion was widely welcomed by Chinese construction professionals.
On 4 June, the sixth session of the 2020 New Zealand Chinese construction industry health and safety webinar series, the 2020 NZCBIA Build Safer Campaign, concluded successfully. Organised by the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association (NZCBIA), with support from ACC, Site Safe and EMA, the series had accompanied construction industry colleagues throughout lockdown. Its conclusion was widely welcomed by Chinese construction professionals.
The series aimed to help Chinese construction professionals in New Zealand promptly learn and understand the latest health and safety information in the new pandemic environment. Topics included ACC Asian business liaison officer Jerry He’s detailed explanation of ACC support policies and return-to-work recommendations for business customers, along with the products and services ACC offered them during the pandemic;
NZCBIA president Frank Xu’s detailed guidance on safety plans and site briefings for residential and commercial construction during COVID-19;
Site Safe health and safety adviser Ann Chia’s introduction to managing construction site health and safety risks;
and explanations of general workplace rules during COVID-19 and other topics by EMA Chinese Business Centre manager Anna Li and employment relations and safety manager Paul Jarvie.
The series featured videos recorded by the speakers, accompanied by written summaries of the key points, published every Thursday on the NZCBIA and YIJU New Zealand WeChat official accounts.
Over the two months of the series, the webinars were shared approximately 670 times and received around 3900 views.
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NZCBIA also partnered with YIJU New Zealand’s WeChat official account to launch a series of quizzes under the theme “Learn, win prizes and earn LBP points!” After watching the videos, participants could take a quiz for a chance to win prizes.
This greatly increased participants’ enthusiasm and helped more people understand and master the latest health and safety knowledge during the pandemic.
The webinars were also shared through NZCBIA’s LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube accounts, attracting around 1270 views and 81 interactions, including shares and comments.
NZCBIA members continued receiving updates on the series through email subscriptions, generating 648 views in total.
Discussing the origins of the webinar series, NZCBIA president Frank Xu said the idea predated the COVID-19 outbreak in New Zealand. It arose from a meeting with ACC Asian liaison officer Jerry He. While discussing a series of safety incidents in the Chinese construction industry the previous year, they agreed that raising Chinese builders’ safety awareness and improving worker protection were essential, and began planning the series.
The original plan was, of course, an in-person roadshow. Although the pandemic disrupted those plans, health and safety became even more significant during this exceptional period.
The programme therefore moved online, with some adjustments to its content. Alongside general construction site safety, it added health and safety information specifically addressing COVID-19.
The success of the 2020 New Zealand Chinese construction industry health and safety webinar series also depended on generous support from businesses including construction company LIVEFIRM, skills training provider BIET GROUP, leading kitchen appliance brand ROBAM, PPE supplier THE UNICORNS, advertising production studio DTECH, the Qian Duoduo app and Yi Ling Ba Dao.
Frank Xu said: “Thank you all for actively sponsoring our programme during this exceptional period, and thank you to every construction professional who took part.
We hope this series will deliver results in future practice, raising Chinese builders’ safety awareness, making Chinese-run construction sites safer and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese workers.”