NIWA’s priority is to provide the safest possible working environment for all our staff and people who work with us in our workplaces, in the context of the increasing community transmission of COVID-19.
As we all move to the NZ COVID-19 protection framework, and in accordance with our health and safety risk assessment and in consultation with our staff, NIWA is proposing to introduce a Vaccinated Workplace Policy from 15 December 2021. This will mean everyone (including employees, directors, visitors, students, and contractors) entering a NIWA workplace must be fully vaccinated.
By fully vaccinated we mean a person has received their full initial vaccination of a New Zealand government-approved vaccine and are up-to-date with any New Zealand government-recommended booster shots.
We are using the definition of workplace from Health and Safety at Work Act (2015) s20. This means any place where work is carried out – offices, vehicles, vessels, and field campaign sites, for example.
Our Policy will:
- limit the risk of outbreak or spread of COVID-19 in NIWA workplaces,
- meet the expectations of many of our customers and collaborators, and
- maintain continuity of NIWA operations.
What this means for you
Our contractors and visitors are now required, on entry to a NIWA workplace, to:
- Provide an NZ My Vaccine Pass for verification. NIWA will use the NZ Pass Verifier App for this purpose and won’t hold any personal information separately to that unless otherwise agreed to.
- Complete a Wellness Self-assessment,
- Wear face coverings and maintain physical distancing, as directed,
- Scan our QR code, and use your COVID-19 Tracer App.
If a business that works at NIWA workplaces, or one of their employees, chooses not to be vaccinated or to disclose their vaccination status, for the purposes of entering a NIWA workplace, NIWA will assume that they are unvaccinated, and entry will be restricted or denied.
For those in this position and where your work with NIWA can be conducted virtually, we can arrange this alternative.
Contact
Please do not hesitate to contact us, if you have any questions or concerns.
