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The long-term cost of site exposure

Work-related disease kills far more building workers than falls, vehicles and machinery, and WorkSafe NZ estimates it claims between 750 and 900 lives across the nation’s workforce every year. Measured against the acute toll that dominates site safety, a worker is 15 times more likely to die from a disease the job caused than from […]

4 min read
Why Concrete NZ Conference 2026 should be in your calendar

From low-carbon concrete and seismic resilience to structural innovation and the economic outlook for construction, the Concrete NZ Conference 2026 promises three days of ideas, insights and industry connections that will resonate well beyond the cement and concrete sector. Held from 21–23 October at Wellington’s Tākina Convention and Exhibition Centre, this year’s conference evokes the […]

4 min read
Vocational education forum marks 20 years

New Zealand’s leading vocational education research event is marking two decades of bringing researchers, educators, employers and policymakers together, with abstract submissions and registrations now open for the 20th New Zealand Vocational Education and Training Research Forum. Co-hosted by Skills Group and BCITO, this year’s forum carries the theme Building Bridges, reflecting the idea that […]

3 min read
New asbestos findings raise fresh questions for schools

New Zealand schools that dealt with the play sand asbestos scare last year are facing fresh questions, after new reporting found that safety assurances given to parents and schools in New Zealand and Australia were largely based on suppliers’ own assessments rather than independent verification. The saga began in November last year, when routine testing […]

3 min read
Could fungi be the future of asbestos disposal?

Asbestos remains New Zealand’s deadliest work-related killer, with around 220 people dying each year from preventable asbestos-related disease He says lung diseases caused by asbestos, such as lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis, continue to take a dreadful toll that robs many of their health and time with their whānau. “What we’re seeing today is the […]

3 min read
Inflation hits 4.1%, but fuel is doing most of the damage

The annual inflation rate has climbed to its highest level in more than two years, with the latest figures from Stats NZ putting the increase at 4.1% in the 12 months to the June 2026 quarter, up from 3.1% in the year to March. The result sits above the Reserve Bank’s target band of 1 […]

3 min read
Farmers warned of bird flu

For poultry farmers watching bird flu arrive on New Zealand’s shores, officials have a blunt message: prevention is the priority, not compensation for what happens after. H5 bird flu was confirmed this week in a single brown skua seabird found at Petone Beach, New Zealand’s first detection of the virus. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says […]

3 min read
Digital trades are changing the future of apprenticeships

Kiwi teens are looking into trades as AI eats into entry-level office work. Budget 2026 leant in, doubling secondary school Trades Academy places to 20,000 over four years. But the apprenticeships they’re signing up for look little like the ones their parents did. Automation has already reached the workshop floor. Take training itself. Apprentices now […]

3 min read
Manufacturing’s automation moment is here

Jo Verry is a Senior Key Account Manager at industry training organisation, Competenz You lock up your warehouse at night, switch off the lights and press play on an autonomous drone. By morning, it has flown the aisles, scanned barcodes, completed stocktakes and delivered real-time inventory data before the first staff member arrives. For some […]

5 min read