Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Radio New Zealand

The changing way people shop and the sheer volume of products is making product safety harder to police, says Consumer NZ.

It says the recall of coloured sand products over asbestos fears shows product safety rules for kids toys and craft materials are not fit for purpose, with the rise in giant e-commerce retailers.

Several coloured sand products have been recalled, including a 14-piece sand castle building set and containers of blue, green and pink magic sand sold at K-Mart, and the Educational Colours rainbow sand and creatistics coloured sand, which was sold by half a dozen retailers.

Several schools that use the products have closed while they worked out what kind of cleanup is required.

Anybody who has the sand at home is urged to immediately stop using it and check the MBIE and Worksafe websites for details of what to do next. It should not be thrown in a rubbish bin, or vacuumed up.

Consumer NZ head of research and advocacy Gemma Rasmussen told Checkpoint that by law, all products should be covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act and one of the guarantees within that Act is that products must be of an acceptable quality, meaning they must be safe.

But she said one of the fundamental issues with product safety was the speed and amount of products coming into the country

“I think we are entering a completely different landscape. If you look at the way product safety used to operate in New Zealand, there were things that were deemed high risk like prams, nightwear, things like that, and then we have product safety standards to regulate the market. And products would be coming into the market at such a slow rate that we were actually able to keep on top of that.

“Now we’ve got retailers like Temu and Shine that are pumping out products at such a fast rate and I think retailers in a way need to compete, they need to be offering more products. And with the cost of living, people are often wanting things to be cheap and fast and affordable, and I think this is a bit of a conundrum for regulators.”

She said the amount of money that the government was putting towards product safety did need to be escalated, “because this is an issue that is only going to continue to grow”.

Rasmussen said there needed to be global online product safety registers.

“So as soon as a product is deemed to be unsafe and whether that’s on an international online platform or through a local marketplace, as soon as a product is flagged to be a risk, that means that other countries can have an understanding and put out that recall notice. Because the way in which we’re working at the moment, is it’s getting onto the shelves and then people can be affected and we have to go through the recall notice, and really, you want it to be happening at a point where it’s before it’s reached the shelves.”

Who pays for the clean-up?

The cost of getting rid of asbestos contamination could potentially run into tens of thousands of dollars, and Rasmussen said the responsibility for those costs ultimately laid with the retailer.

“They have the obligation to sell you a product that is fit for purpose, so as your first step you can go through the disputes tribunal and show the costs that have been incurred, and that would be capped at about $30,000 in terms of the amount you’d be able to get back.”

She said it could cost more than that for businesses and classrooms, and they may need to get a lawyer and take it to the district court to get compensation.

But an asbestos removal expert said people worried about contaminated sand should have samples tested before committing to a costly and disruptive clean-up.

Asbestos Removal Association president Chris Saunders told Checkpoint it was best to have tests done first before committing to anything.

He said just because the products had been recalled, it did not necessarily mean every bucket was contaminated.

He said tests may come back negative and save owners a lot of money, but stressed it was still early days.

“The initial alarm bells have certainly worked to raise awareness, but in terms of determining what the appropriate response is, it is very site specific and that really is led by sampling and testing of the product.

“Testing costs are not that expensive, but if you end up needing to do a full decontamination procedure, that can be a very expensive exercise, in the tens of thousands.”

He said things like carpet and drapes may need to be stripped out, and these would all have to be replaced, adding to the costs.

Testing was just the first step, but he advised people to be patient, as the laboratories were currently backed up with a large number of samples.”

“So it’s taking a while to get a result… but if you get three positive responses, that’s going to tell you it’s a big problem.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

For the first time in its history, the national water authority has taken control of a private supply and ordered the local council to operate it.

The move comes after the Far North town of Kāeo clocked up 10 years under a boil-water notice and after 30 days – according to residents – with no running water at all.

Taumata Arowai chief executive Allan Prangnell said it was the first time the authority had taken such a step and it had not been done lightly.

“The community has been dealing with a poor water supply for too long and there is a serious risk to public health relating to a drinking water supply,” Prangnell said.

“In this case, we consider there are sufficient grounds for action, in light of the 10-year boil-water advisory and the more recent inability of the supplier to provide any water.”

Prangnell said the authority had placed the Kāeo drinking water supply, previously operated by Wai Care Environmental Consultants, under statutory management and appointed the Far North District Council to manage it.

Privatised in 2000, the scheme supplies water to about 30 homes, businesses and public facilities along Kāeo’s main road.

Residents told RNZ the water supply stopped working abruptly on 18 October.

Almost two weeks later, the Far North District Council stationed a tanker on the main street in early November, so residents could fill containers with drinking water.

RNZ previously revealed Wai Care operator Bryce Aldridge had been trespassed from the town’s water treatment plant and could visit it only under police escort.

Wayne Mighorst – who owns the land on School Gully Rd where the plant is located – said he had issued the trespass notice, because the water company had not paid rent for seven years.

Aldridge told RNZ he had a document showing he did not need to pay rent, but that was disputed by the landowner.

Meanwhile, Prangnell said the water authority had worked with the supplier since early this year to find both immediate and long-term solutions to Kāeo’s water woes.

The authority convened formal discussions between the supplier and the council on 22 October, but they were unable to resolve the immediate supply issues.

That led the authority to invoke section 83 of the Water Services Act 2021 for the first time, making the council responsible for the supplier’s functions and duties.

“The Water Services Act provides a 90-day period to put in place statutory management,” Prangnell. “However, following conversations with Far North District Council and the supplier, it was agreed that the council would immediately step in to take over the supply.

“We are pleased that the council can step in with the support of the supplier, and would like to acknowledge both the work of the supplier and of the council to make this happen.

“From here, our focus shifts to supporting Far North District Council to turn the supply back on and then working with the community on a cost-effective, long-term solution by March 2026.”

Kāeo is located on State Highway 10, about 30km north of Kerikeri.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

An antibiotic-resistant superbug with two confirmed separate outbreaks at Christchurch Hospital causes one in 10 people to become sick, an infectious diseases researcher says.

Health New Zealand has stepped up precautions after new break-outs of the infection known as antibiotic-resistant enterococci or VRE. Two different strains of VRE had been identified on one ward.

Health New Zealand said there were fewer than 10 patients with the infection, but many were asymptomatic carriers.

The bacteria is difficult to treat due to its antibiotic-resistance, and in some cases can be potentially life threatening.

VRE can spread within healthcare settings through surfaces, patient equipment and from a person’s hands that have not been properly cleaned.

Health New Zealand’s website said there had been an increase in the hospital patients colonised with VRE in some regions.

It was advising that all patients who stayed overnight at Waikato, Thames, Tauranga or Lakes Hospital, or been day patients in their renal or oncology wards, be screened and isolated while awaiting results.

Infectious diseases researcher at the University of Auckland, associate professor Mark Thomas, told Checkpoint VRE was a bacteria that lived in the intestines.

He said 90 percent of people didn’t have a problem, however the bacteria targeted people who were sick or vulnerable.

“About one in 10 people become sick,” he said.

“[Health New Zealand] are trying to prevent the organism spreading widely in New Zealand, the fact is, it’s very very hard once it’s establish in a hospital to get rid of it.

“It’s been in Waikato and Bay of Plenty hospitals for some years now, and I don’t know that they are getting rid of it.”

There was an opportunity to get rid of the bug when numbers were low, Thomas said.

He said the bacteria had become resistant to antibiotics because of both overuse and misuse of the drug.

Thomas said antibiotic resistance was a growing issue, but New Zealand hospitals were “cautious” when treating with antibiotics.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Sending teenagers to polytech for the day will be a central part of the government’s secondary school overhaul.

Education Minister Erica Stanford told the Vocational Education and Training Research Forum in Wellington the Trades Academy system was her “north Star” as the government developed industry-driven “vocational subjects” for secondary schools.

Trades academies are tertiary providers, often polytechnics, that take secondary school students for the day.

Stanford said she was evaluating the various vocational or trade training programmes offered by schools, but trades academies would certainly continue under the new system.

“There’s a range of different pathways. There’s so many of them. So we’re looking at the moment what does each one serve. What are the outcomes for each one. Which ones can we can we keep and retain. But trades academies is essentially what we are trying to to continue and build out because they’re massively successful,” she said.

“Trades Academy is is our North star. That’s what we’re trying to achieve.”

Stanford agreed it was important to give students a taste of different options and subjects before they made subject choices in the senior secondary school.

She said the government wanted vocational subjects to be valued as highly as academic subjects.

Aotearoa Foundation Skills and Pathways Association co-chairperson Karen Dobric said the new vocational subjects needed to be set at a level of difficulty that would not shut students out.

“We’re looking at a a situation now where students on the whole, many students, can access unit standards-based subjects, but in the future what we’re looking at is industry-led subjects that will be at a higher level of difficulty.

“We need staircasing that’s going to prepare students for those subjects, but also have alternatives if students can’t actually manage to achieve those subjects, so that all students can remain in secondary school.”

Piet van der Klundert from training provider The Learning Place said the shift to vocational subjects would require a massive increase in resources to ensure students in every school including those in remote areas, teen parent units and Te Kura the correspondence school, could access them.

“We’re going from a really small cohort of learners that are engaged in vocational education currently to potentially opening this up to 150-plus-thousand students in year 12 and 13 across our secondary schools, so it is a massive undertaking, but a massive opportunity as well.

“We’re going to need more vocational education, focused teachers and providers delivering provision into their secondary schools, and we need the funding to be able to support it.”

Wellington College head of transition and careers Hamish Davidson said the new system should retain the flexibility that ensured students could try out a subject without being locked into it.

“One of the things that needs to be retained is the flexibility we currently have for students to explore and experiment before they commit to a long-term qualification or pathway within an area and so some of our existing programmes, like the Gateway programmes, give students that opportunity to try before you buy if you like.”

Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation director Greg Durkin said it had a long history of developing programmes for use in schools and the government’s reforms would make it easier for other industries to do the same.

He said vocational subjects needed parity of esteem with academic subjects.

Durkin said the curriculum needed to give students the basic skills and knowledge they needed to go on to study any trade or qualifiation.

Craig Dyason from the Careers and Transitions Education Association said students would need to be able to mix academic and vocational subjects so they were not trapped in one track or the other.

He said schools loved Trades Academies, which essentially allowed students to be polytechnic students for a day, and would be happy to hear the minister’s endorsement of them.

But he said schools should also retain Gateway, a programme that helped them provide work experience for students and worked well in tandem with Trades Academies.

“It’s that work experience, that exposure to those vocational pathways, which is super important so both programmes in schools we feel are vital for any student,” he said.

Technology Education NZ chairperson Hamish Johnston said Trades Academies worked well, but not all schools used them.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand