The Puataunofo Manukau Project is a strategic collaborative pilot project that brought together a broad range of agencies and partners to promote and raise awareness of health and safety issues for Pacific workers and Pacific youth inworkplaces and communities of Manukau.
Puataunofo Manukau Project’s vision of ‘Health and Safety for Pasefika Workers in Manukau’ focused on Pacific peoples working in the manufacturing industry and the increasing numbers of Pacific youth entering the workforce.
Case studies and research indicate that Pacific workers and youth are vulnerable in workplaces and statistics show that there continues to be a slight deterioration since the 2006 Report for Work-Place Injury Claims [Ministry of Social Development].
The Puataunofo Manukau Project aimed to develop partnerships with both employers and their Pacific employees to participate in a programme that would improve workplace safety.
The project demonstrated that a well planned programme could effectively address Pacific people’s workplace injury issues which were seen as a key barrier to improving productivity.
Purpose
The objectives of Puataunofo Manukau were to:
• Improve awareness of workplace health and safety for Pacific workers and young people
• Inform and support both employers and employees in their roles and responsibilities in injury prevention
• Develop a communications strategy to effectively promote health and safety messages to the Pacific community in Manukau
• Establish a programme in collaboration with other agencies and employers that will improve the workplace health and safety of Pacific workers