Health, Safety and Sustainability

Health, Safety and Sustainability is fully integrated into the Aotea Southern way of working, from the core values and strategic direction of the business, to the operational day-to-day culture. Our point of difference is a dedicated Health, Safety and Sustainability Manager and a well defined network of representatives, champions and committee members within the business to ensure our processes are robust.

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Health and Safety

At Aotea Southern the health and safety of our staff, clients, and contract partners, is a top priority. Not only do we adhere to the highest industry standards and regulatory requirements, but our proactive approach also includes regular staff training, comprehensive safety protocols, and continuous risk assessments to prevent accidents and ensure a culture of safety across all operations. We are committed to fostering a workplace where everyone can thrive in a secure, supportive, and health-conscious environment.
This includes:

  • 100% Sitewise certification.
  • Site Safe training for all staff.
  • Engagement through Health and Safety Excellence Awards.
  • Induction and Staff Training
  • Wellbeing, Rehabilitation and Return to Work support.

Being a very safety-conscious company, our employees are empowered to take the time to carry out risk assessments, stand back look at the job, look at its location, and consider all factors. Aotea employees actively participate in health and safety with Job Safety Analysis and Task Analysis being second nature, they use the tools provided together with their experience to get work done in a safe manner.

Sustainability

Aotea Southern is committed to sustainability and as our company grows, so does our sense of responsibility. As we strive to become leaders within our industry, it all starts with our people. We lead from the front and empower our staff to speak up and work together as a team. The foundation of this is education, establishing the champions within our business, and collaboration with our trade partners, suppliers, customers, and all external stakeholders as we move towards a more sustainable future.

While we are progressing on our sustainability journey, we view this as an area of continuous improvement as we focus on our people, our company, our community, our country (via Aotea Group), and ultimately our planet.

Sustainability is a key component of our strategic plan and aligns with our core values, around integrity, people, community, and innovation. We have an established framework, including a Sustainability Committee and representatives from each department, and have partnered with BraveGen to assist us in establishing our carbon footprint.

Additional sustainability initiatives that we have completed in recent years include:

  • Recycling and Waste Reduction – In 2023, we established an onsite Recycling Centre, providing our staff with accessible recycling options for cardboard, polystyrene, scrap metal, batteries, glass, office paper, and used photocopier cartridges.
  • Renewable Energy – Our commitment to renewable energy generation was shown when we created a new solar department and installed solar panels at our Aotea office, generating renewable energy and reducing our reliance on non-renewable power sources.
  • Supplier Collaboration – We work with suppliers to reduce waste, assisting with the introduction of recycled cable reels that electrical wholesalers are now returning to manufacturers for reuse and cardboard packaging as an alternative to soft plastics.
  • People and Community – Investing in our people is a core value at Aotea Electric. We provide continuous training to expand trade knowledge, support wellbeing, promote diversity, and maintain a strong health and safety culture. We also offer opportunities for our staff to volunteer for sustainability committees and community-based projects and our Gold Sponsorship of the Wild Dunedin Festival of Nature is a mechanism for this.
  • Building Our Reputation – We aim to build our reputation as experts in energy and carbon emission reduction, providing carbon reports to our customers and ensuring client satisfaction. We seek to identify and collaborate with the right partners work alongside with the same common goal.