HFESNZ Newsletter - March 2024

A word from the editor

Tēnā koutou katoa

Welcome to our Autumn Newsletter and our first for 2024.

Please send any information or news that you would like included in the next edition to gwandkg@gmail.com, news@hfesnz.org.nz or admin@hfesnz.org.nz

Ngā mihi nui 

Karen Goodfellow, HFESNZ Editor

A word from the Chairperson

Talofa lava HFESNZ,

I hope you all had a wonderful break I cannot believe that its already March!

Based on current society activities, 2024 is shaping up to be a busy and exciting year.

At our recent committee meeting Hamish from our governance group provided a refresher on the HASANZ Workforce Development Programme (WDP) covering the work done to date followed by an update by each of the workstream leads.

For those who are new to our society, the purpose of WDP is to increase the number of NZ HFE professionals and provide mechanisms to promote their training and growth in NZ. Together there are 6 workstreams in total (2 covering professional development and 4 related to education pathways) the workstreams are as follows:

• EP01 (led by Fiona Trevelyan and Liz Ashby) focusses on establishing an HFE postgraduate programme in NZ.
• EP02 (led by Dave Moore) focusses on defining introductory HFE education in NZ.
• EP03 (led by Rebecca Luther) focusses on developing resources (and guidance) to increase industry awareness of HFE.
• EP04 (led by Liz Ashby) focusses on the marketing of HFE education pathway.
• PD01 (led by PAB) focusses on our professional membership processes (including applications, assessment, screening tools and guidance).
• PD02 (led by Vanessa Beanland) focusses on developing and supporting early career members (e.g. HASANZ HFE scholarships).

Thank you to our members involved with WDP we are making good progress as we near the end of the programme (funding) in June 2024. If you want to know more about the workstreams, or if you want to assist, please feel free to reach out to the work stream leads above.

We are excited to announce the launch of the HFE Post graduate course led by AUT in June. Well done to Fiona and Liz (and support staff) for your hard work on this programme. To our members, please spread the word as we try to attract exciting presenters to this important occasion.

The committee discussed dates for the AGM and HFESNZ annual 1-day conference. It is likely that the AGM will be held in May or June while it is envisaged that the conference will again be held in Wellington during the week of the HASANZ conference (mid-September). More confirmed dates will be available in the next newsletter.

HFESNZ is looking to invigorate our Special Interest Groups (SIGS) which consist of Healthcare, Musculoskeletal, Transport, and Systems. To date Healthcare is the most mature in terms of programme activities. Myself and Parul are co-leading Musculoskeletal and looking to build our programme for 2024. If you would like to be involved in either of the SIGs please get in touch, we would like to know your ideas and topics.

You may have seen social posts regarding HASANZ HFE scholarships, we are proud to announce 13 post graduate scholarships for 2024. Thank you to Vanessa Beanland and Bikram Pandey for your roles in assisting HASANZ with the selection process. HFESNZ look forward to working with, and alongside the recipients in the coming months and years. Congratulations to those 13.

The Professional Affairs Board (PAB) have been working diligently on proposed changes to membership process. Mainly, to encourage and facilitate professional membership of HFESNZ to improve the application process, and simplify how applications are assess by PAB members. This robust process was conducted in conjunction with professional members and is almost complete. This work is extremely important for the future and longevity of HFESNZ.  Thanks to Leanne Hunter (PAB Convener) and Rachel Gordan with support from committee in Vanessa Beanland for your work in this area.

A final word. Since taking the reigns as Chair for HFESNZ one of the most common questions I get asked from non-members is this,

“I’ve always been interested in ergonomics but when I look on google its very hard to find any information about HFE in NZ – where do I find out more?

or

“What is the actual benefit of joining HFESNZ what do I get from it? Why are you guys not out there in the public eye or how can I know more about you?”

These are very valid questions. There is no simple answer to this other than we are a very small organisation run almost entirely by volunteers who are passionate about our field. While there is plenty we can do to promote HFESNZ better, that can’t be done properly until we have a solid foundation of which to identify, nurture, and support future HFE professionals in Aotearoa. Our work to date within WDP, PAB, and HASANZ provides the perfect platform for achieving that goal. We thank you for your patience.

I am confident that 2024 will be a successful year for our society. Please continue to support those who need our services, introduce them to the society and promote networks with HFESNZs biggest strength - our people.

If you have any feedback about the society please feel free to drop me a line. Till next time.

Malo soifua,

Stephven.

Membership Update

• Jonathan Wells
• Maggie Meeks
• Carina Perner
• Karyn O'Keefe

Update from Professional Affairs Board

Professional Membership enquires please contact the Convenor at profmember@hfesnz.org.nz. Please note, all material must be sent to the Convenor at least 3 weeks beforehand as the assessors need time to read the material before the meeting.

February 2023 PAB update – Results from the HFESNZ professional members vote on proposed membership changes and suggested next steps.

This brief report presents the results of the professional member vote on the proposed membership changes. It also outlines our proposed next steps to implement these changes.

A brief overview of what we’ve done so far

2021/2022

Since 2021 the PAB have reviewed how the current HFESNZ professional membership process works as a result of the work that was undertaken as part of the ‘workforce development programme’, ‘workstream 1’. Since then, we proposed changes to encourage and facilitate professional membership of HFESNZ and to improve the application process and simplify how applications are assess by PAB members.

An initial survey was conducted, and 16 professional members responded. The results were reviewed, discussed in depth, and addressed by the PAB over several months. As a result, many changes to the initial proposed questions were modified to address professional member concerns.

2023

On 3 March 2023 a motion was signed to propose that the ‘Rules of the HFESNZ Incorporated’ were modified and was to be voted on at the AGM on 15^th June 2023. At the AGM several members had concerns that the correct procedure hadn’t been followed, and that the survey that was sent out was only an initial consultation document and not a vote. This discussion led to the motion being withdrawn and the PAB going back to review our next steps.

Since June 2023 the PAB reviewed the initial survey responses and the proposed ‘rule’ and ‘process’ changes. We held an online consultation session for professional members and listened to their concerns and discussed possible solutions. Following this we refined the wording to the question set and made it clear where the proposed changes to the ‘Rules of the HFESNZ Incorporated’ could occur versus process changes that would be outlined in the PAB Manual to support the application and assessment process. We also included an additional question that was raised during the session about including a ‘Fellow’ membership category and completed additional email consultation from professional members on this.

After several months a vote on potential membership changes was sent to all 25 professional members (Certified, Associate, and Technical) on 28^th November 2022. Initially we received 12 responses with a follow up reminder sent on the 17^th December to those who hadn’t yet voted. This resulted in 4 more members voting. A further reminder was sent the week of the 22^nd January with 1 further response received. In total we received 17 responses out the 25 professional members, a response rate of 68%.

Results from the 2023 professional members vote

The figure below shows the results from the professional members vote with the full questions presented in tables 1 and 2 on the following pages. Professional members voted on 11 questions with all proposed changes being agreed upon by more than 82% of the professional members. 3 questions were agreed with by all 17 professional members (100%).

Table 1 – Voting Questions directly linked with HFESNZ Rule Changes

Table 2 – Voting Questions linked with process changes

Summary

• 68% (17 out of 25) professional members voted on the 11 questions about the proposed changes. There was strong agreement of between 82% to 100% across all questions. 3 questions were agreed on by all of the 17 members.
• It’s difficult to do a direct comparison of some of the questions voted on between the original and most recent vote due to questions being reworded (either a little or a lot). But we know that in the latest vote we had one extra response compared to 16 responses in the first vote.
• We also saw that the level of agreement in the most recent vote increased. Initial agreement ranged from 75% (4 questions) to 100% (1 question). This shows that through the consultation process the PAB have listened to the professional members to modify the proposed changes and there are now more members who support these changes.
• These latest results indicate that the majority of professional members agree with all of the propsed changes. It is important to remember that everyone has their own personal opinion and with any changes to systems or processes not everyone will agree. We suggest that 82% of professional members agreeing with a change is sufficient to warrant progressing to the next stage.

PAB proposal

1. PAB propose that given these results, all 11 of the changes (outlined in Tables 1 & 2) are put to a vote by all HFESNZ members in accordance with “Section 28.0 – Altering the Rules” of the “Rules of the HFESNZ Incorporated”. In particular, Section 28.1 states:

“The Society may alter or replace these Rules at a Society Meeting by a resolution passed by a 75% majority of those Members present (including teleconference) and voting (including proxy and/or electronic/postal votes).”

And meets the criteria outlined in Sections 28.2-28.4:

• 2 Any proposed motion to amend or replace these Rules shall be signed by at least 10% of eligible Members and given in writing to the Secretary at least 28 days before the Society Meeting at which the motion is to be considered, and accompanied by a written explanation of the reasons for the proposal.
• 3 At least 14 days before the General Meeting at which any Rule change is to be considered the Secretary shall give to all Members written notice of the proposed motion, the reasons for the proposal, and any recommendations the Committee has.
• 4 When a Rule change is approved by a General Meeting no Rule change shall take effect until the Secretary has filed the changes with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies.”

1. We suggest that a motion for these changes is put forward and that a General Meeting is arranged that is separate from the AGM so that these changes can be considered and voted on (following the above criteria).

[1] For these questions there was one ‘no response’ recorded (they neither agreed nor disagreed) making it 16 out of 25 responses.

Workforce Development Project

WorkSafe/HASANZ Workforce development Project-Tranche 2

The Workforce development project- Tranche 2 is structured as outlined in the below figure and has a June 30^th 2024 completion date.

HFE Education pathway

EP01 Postgraduate Education (Fiona Trevelyan - Leader)

The aims of the HFE postgraduate education workstream are below:

• Develop cohesive and consistent delivery of HFE content across the HFE postgraduate programme.
• Develop and implement effective communication channels across the programme.

An outline hui was held on Wednesday 21^st February to provide an opportunity for EP01 stakeholders to discuss how programme cohesion and HFE consistency is to be maintained across the PG programme.  The hui was attended by 18 stakeholders and included lectures from five universities and HFE related groups (i.e., HFESNZ, PAB and EP02).  Feedback from the hui will be analysed w/c Feb26th, 2024, with findings forming action points to further embed the HFE PG programme into Aotearoa, NZ.

“HFE Launch and Open day”

An in-person “HFE Launch and Open Day” event is to be held on Tuesday, 21 May at AUT from 2pm to 6pm.  A rough outline for the event is outli9ned below.

• 2pm-4pm – interactive activities and stands offering insight into HFE.
• 4pm-6pm – “Official Launch” of HFE PG Education programme comprising light refreshments, presentation and networking opportunities.

It would be fabulous to have as many of you as possible involved with the event – either in drumming up support, contributing to the day e.g., leading and interactive workshop or being there in person.

If you have any ideas about the day and/or would like to be involved, please get in touch with Fiona.trevelyan@aut.ac.nz

HASANZ Update

HFE Scholarships 2024

The HASANZ Human Factors and Ergonomics Scholarships programme is dedicated to cultivating the HFE workforce.  Funding for the scholarships is provided via WorkSafe NZ as part of the workforce development programmes.  The first round of HFE-specific scholarships was awarded in 2021, with a second round in 2022.

We received funding for a third round of scholarships in late 2023, with interviews conducted in January 2024 by our panel of Vanessa Beanland, Steve Kolose and Bikram Pandey with assistance from HASANZ’s Bronwyn Presland and Mia Troll.

We are delighted to announce the award of 12 scholarships for individuals undertaking postgraduate study in HFE during 2024: 

1 Natalie Amersfoort – University of Otago, MSc Psychology

2 Melody Chen – AUT, Postgraduate Certificate in Health Sciences

3 Lucina Harding – AUT, Postgraduate Certificate in Health Sciences

1. Madeline Hernon – AUT, postgraduate Certificate in health Sciences
2. Cory Matulino – La Trobe University (Australia), Master of Ergonomics, Safety and Health
3. Julie Moffett – AUT, Postgraduate Certificate in health Sciences
4. Gareth O’Donnell – AUT, Postgraduate Certificate in health Sciences
5. Billie Petty – University of Otago, MSc Psychology
6. Hemamalini Santosh Puthran – AUT, Postgraduate Certificate in Health Sciences
7. Kim Sanderson – AUT, Postgraduate Certificate in Health Sciences
8. Margaret Anne van Schaik – University of Derby (UK), MSc Ergonomics and human Factors (Behaviour Change)
9. Rebecca Washbourn – AUT. Postgraduate Certificate in health Sciences

This is our largest cohort of scholarship recipients ever and represents a diverse group of individuals ranging from students planning their first career to others seeking to move into HFE after decades of work in other industries.  Their specific interests include healthcare, moving and handling, aviation, construction, workplace health & safety, and or course all things HFE and systems-related.  We are thrilled to have such a large group of passionate future HFE professionals coming through the pipeline and look forward to working with them more in future.

Vanessa Beanland

Special Interest Group / Webinar

The next Healthcare SIG meeting is Wednesday 17^th April at 7.30pm with Paul Bowie the guest speaker.

Link to register for the webinar: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/22c6cc4b-99fb-4b9c-befc-00716923342a@01dc5268-d24e-43ff-9840-2a02b55f1681

Paul is a safety scientist, medical educator and chartered ergonomist & human factors expert with around 30 years of experience leading and collaborating in research, innovation and educational development to improve the quality and safety of healthcare in the UK and internationally.   He is Programme Director for Safety and Improvement with NHS Education for Scotland where he also leads the Safety, Skills, Simulation and Improvement Research Collaborative (SKIRC). 

Paul is the Healthcare Sector Lead for Patient Safety at the UK Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors.  He is also Honorary Professor in the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow and Visiting Professor at Queen’s University, Kingston in Canada.  He holds honorary fellowships with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Royal College of General Practitioners. 

IEA News

For more information and to register, click here.

General News

The CIEHF are holding their annual conference in April. It looks like a great industry wide spread of HFE with a packed programme over three days.

Ergonomics & Human Factors 2024

Lots of other news from the Society’s ‘THINK’ section can be viewed here:

https://ergonomics.org.uk/learn/think.html