The Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional

The Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional Looking back, Episodes 4, 8 & 15

• Greg Dearsly • Season 1 • Episode 18

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In this session, we explored episodes four, eight, and 15, focusing on Māori and Pacifica culture in workplace safety.

Episode 4: Vance Walker discusses the importance of cultural intelligence in health and safety, particularly when working with Māori communities. He introduced his project, Kia Tupato, aimed at fostering cautious behavior over traditional safety protocols. Vance highlighted the need for effective communication rooted in understanding Māori cultural values, such as whakapapa (genealogy) and trust. He warned against acquiescence bias, where individuals agree to please others, stressing that genuine communication is essential for safety outcomes. He also emphasized the importance of culturally relevant gestures and the significance of matauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) in safety practices. Vance concluded with the "three R's" for engaging with Māori: resonate, reconcile, and repeat.

Episode 8: Afele Paea underscoring the relevance of empathy and risk assessment skills. He addressed challenges faced by Pacific and Māori communities in workplace safety, advocating for storytelling as a powerful communication tool. Afele stressed the need for health and safety initiatives to involve families and consider cultural contexts, suggesting that visual learning methods are more effective than traditional training.

Episode 15: Jodhi Warwick-Ponga discussed the growth of the Māori Health and Safety Association and introduced the Haumaru Tāngata framework, aimed at reducing workplace injuries among Māori in high-risk industries. This framework promotes culturally responsive practices and emphasizes holistic wellbeing and mentorship. Jodhi outlined key principles, such as cultural integration, support, and self-assessment, highlighting the business benefits of implementing these practices. She pointed out the alarming statistics regarding Māori workplace harm and the importance of fostering a safe and inclusive environment to support the future workforce.

Overall, these discussions underscore the need for cultural awareness and effective communication in enhancing workplace safety and inclusivity for Māori and Pacifica communities.

Greg:

Hi, everyone, we're back on the air on The Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional Podcast, we've had a couple of months off just, sorting some stuff out and doing other things. And yeah, we're back with a couple of looking back episodes and also planning for season two which is due to start in late January, 2025. So great to be back on The Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional Podcast. This is a series aimed at providing a platform whereby safety professionals can develop a pathway to enhance their cultural intelligence capability, which will help them function more effectively when working in a multicultural situation. I'm Greg Dearsly your host and between February and June of this year. I interviewed 15 people, for season one of the Culturally Intelligent Safety, Professional Podcast. These fabulous guests range from CQ professionals to academics, communication professionals, safety professionals and hailed from not only New Zealand, but included people based in Singapore and Australia. I'm really grateful for the time that the guests put aside to speak with me and share their knowledge which I aim to further analyze and reflect on during this looking back series. I've grouped the feedback and discussion into these like sessions, including cultural intelligence, education, neurodiversity and Māori Pacifica. And there's also a bit of a mixed bag on a range of subjects for our last episode. In this summary session we reflect on episodes four, eight, and 15, which all featured insightful discussion around Māori and Pacifica culture. In episode four, we spoke to Vance Walker who shared his journey from WorkSafe inspector to PhD student, focusing on connecting, te ao Māori to workplace safety, highlighting the importance of cultural intelligence in the field. Initially entering the profession due to his farming background he emphasizes the need for health and safety practitioners to develop cultural awareness especially when working with Māori communities. He introduced his project Kia Tupato which aims to enhance workers risk perceptions through cautious behavior rather than your traditional safety protocols. Here's what Vance had to say.

Vance:

they had a preference for, or predisposition towards cautious behaviour rather than safety. Safety being an ideal that you have to try to attain. Cautious, made more sense to them.

Greg:

Vance explains also that effective communication with Māori workers requires understanding cultural values like whakapapa, or(genealogy), and the importance of establishing trust and relationships. He suggests using the pepeha(traditional Māori introduction) to connect with workers, which might help overcome biases that may hinder better communication. Vance introduced the concept of acquiescence bias which is a phenomenon where individuals are likely to agree with something regardless of how they actually feel. He suggests that Māori used this when communicating and discusses how this is not an ideal situation from a health and safety perspective as health and safety professionals really need to get to the heart of the matter rather than being told what they might want to hear. Here's more from Vance,

Vance:

so they've gained what's known as an acquiesence bias, so that's, they know how to play the game. So they'll nod their head when you want them to nod their head, and everyone will go away feeling happy. That's probably the worst communication you want as a practitioner because you really wanna get to the heart of the matter so when they go back to their tasks, you've got a bit of comfort around things.

Greg:

We went on to discuss the nuances of expressiveness and communication styles and Māori culture noting that workplace interactions may differ from those on marae or a tribal meeting ground. Vance stresses the significance of being approachable and willing to learn which fosters better rapport and cooperation. We went on to explore the nuances of nonverbal communication, particularly in the context of māori culture and health and safety practices in Aotearoa. Vance highlights, how eye contact varies across cultures, what may be seen as disrespectful in one culture can be respectful in another. He notes that Māori often avoid eye contact out of respect but health and safety practitioners should encourage it to ensure effective communication. Vance also discusses the significance of gestures like the east coast wave, which is a raised eyebrow when you see somebody, It's a casual greeting used amongst Māori and other cultures emphasizing the importance of using culturally relevant expressions like kia ora to foster connections. He stresses that cultural intelligence involves not only understanding but knowledge particularly about, matauranga Māori or Māori knowledge, which underpins tikanga Māori, Māori customs. Overall Vance advocates for integrating cultural intelligence into health and safety practices enabling practitioners to better connect with diverse worker populations and promote safer workplaces. In wrapping up Vance introduced the three R's for engaging with Māori. He encourages us to find something that resonates, reconcile different perspectives, and repeat those practices, to improve cultural engagement over time. He encourages health and safety practitioners to build deeper connections by sharing their own backgrounds,(whakapapa). And be open about their learning journey regarding Māori culture. In episode eight, we caught up with a Afele Paea who highlights how he transitioned from a probation officer to a safety manager. He reflects on his first job as a painter and his experiences with workplace safety which sparked his interest in the field. Afele discusses his role in social welfare and community corrections emphasizing the importance of empathy and effective communication in managing risk, both for the offenders and in workplace safety settings. He describes how skills from his probation officer role like risk assessment are applicable in health and safety inspections, here's what he had to say.

Afele:

At Corrections, you're assessing the risk of the individual, at WorkSafe, you're assessing the risk of a scaffold. And to be honest, a scaffold's a lot more easier to work with than the guy resisting you every time he has to report in and do his programs and stuff.

Greg:

Afele also addresses the cultural context of his work as it relates to Pacific and Māori communities facing significant challenges in unemployment and workplace safety outcomes. He emphasized self-awareness and the need for thoughtful communication recounting a moment when he sought to convey his ideas effectively in a board meeting. It's all about storytelling and he views storytelling as a powerful tool for connecting and understanding and this draws upon his upbringing and shared cultural experiences to relate to others in his professional environment. Afele explains.

Afele:

So for me, I've always wanted to just put my best foot forward and I wanted to add value and I was looking for an opportunity. Like I said, I was confident. of why I was in the room because I know I could connect in with a lot of the workforce that represent those statistics. And when I was talking about those details that you were going on about too, the way I'm sitting and how I say it, it's because I want to be perceived properly. I want to be perceived in the right way. And I guess from some other experiences. I've had trouble with perception as to people look at me and they think I'm just a grunt.

Greg:

We went on to discuss the importance of understanding cultural differences in the workplace, particularly between health and safety professionals and senior managers. Afele emphasizes that knowing what stimulates your employees especially those from Pacifica cultures where family is a key motivator can lead to better engagement and health outcomes. We also touch on the evolution of wellness programs advocating for a more tailored approach that considers employees cultural backgrounds. Things such as blood pressure and cardiovascular health. Afele shares an example from his experience with companies employing Pacifica workers who faced health issues related to eating oysters on the job. He suggests involving families in health initiatives as they often have the most influence on the worker's wellbeing. Afele encourages health and safety professionals to be compassionate and engage employees in interactive, visual ways like storytelling and kinesthetic learning rather than solely relying on traditional training methods. We ended our discussion with a Afele sharing practical tips for creating a more inclusive and supportive workplace highlighting the need for good communication and understanding of cultural context. Here he is, as we wrapped up.

Afele:

And then the next thing I would say is yeah, we'll just go back to that stimulation. How would you stimulate your workers? And for Pacifica workers in particular, we're very visual, so if you're to use Pictures at a toolbox, don't bring out the SOP of eight pages or the SWMS of 75 pages sort of thing. Storytell it.

Greg:

Finally in this looking back series, we reflect on the discussions that we had with Jodhi Warwick-Ponga who is the head of programs and apprenticeships at Vertical Horizons and a trustee of Te Ropu Marutau o Aotearoa, TRMA, or the Māori Health and Safety Association. Jodhi shares her diverse career journey which includes roles in engraving. banking and health and safety consultancies. She highlights TRMA's growth since its inception in 2017 evolving from informal meetings into a formal organization with around 90 paid members now, focusing on providing support and resources for Māori health and safety practitioners. Jodhi discussed the Haumaru Tāngata framework launched in 2023. Designed to address high workplace injury rates among Māori in industries like forestry and construction. This framework aims to provide culturally responsive health and safety practices without replacing existing systems. Jodhi emphasizes its foundational principles which include holistic wellbeing, cultural values, and the importance of storytelling and communication, here's Jodhi to tell us more.

Jodhi:

So Haumaru Tāngata is a framework which provides a guide for intervention and investment for health and safety for Māori employed in high risk industries. So the intent is high risk industries. Places that were researched were mostly around our forestry and also construction. And we also know that fishing they have some high rates of injury for Māori. And we know that Māori are overrepresented in all of the negative statistics in regards to harm in the workplace. So the framework is set about to support any organization who would like to take a more Māori centered approach towards their health and safety.

Greg:

The conversation went on to touch on the concept of mana which reflects an individuals standing within the community and it's intergenerational implications. Jodhi explains that workplace harm not only affects individuals but can diminish the mana, of their families, highlighting the need for culturally aware practices in health and safety. The conversation tuned to the implementation of Haumaru Tāngata and Jodhi overviewed its key points. I am going to talk through some of them now. First we're going to touch on cultural integration which was about reflecting Māori values in organizational practices. Questioning whether the current policies and communications genuinely represent these values or are they merely tokenistic? Next, we talked about support and mentorship. Organizations are encouraged through Haumaru Tāngata to engage with cultural mentors rather than solely relying on external advisors, helping facilitate genuine integration of Māori culture in the workplace. Assessment and implementation of the framework. It includes a self assessment with 20 simple questions to help organizations identify areas for improvement in cultural responsiveness. This process aims to shift from theoretical understanding to practical application. Cultural competency is another area that this program explores. And we talk about the necessity of cultural competence workshops and the value of engaging with Māori workers as your internal cultural advisors. The business benefits and implementation of Haumaru Tāngata, it's not just about being socially responsible, but it can actually lead to improved employee engagement, productivity and overall worker safety. The framework, very familiar to the health and safety professional, an audit model which helps organizations systematically incorporate cultural elements into their operations. And finally connection and resources. So Jodhi provided a whole bunch of resources, including culturally appropriate Karakia or prayers, and guidance for workplaces advocating for the inclusion of Māori voices in shaping workplace practices. Overall the conversation highlights the necessity of authentic engagement with Māori culture in workplaces to foster inclusivity, safety and productivity. And on the question of why should we implement Haumaru Tāngata, Jodhi had this to say.

Jodhi:

Why should you implement Haumaru Tāngata? Because we have far too many Māori who are being hurt. Māori have 51 percent more likelihood of being harmed in the workplace. On top of that, many of the roles that we do are in high risk industries. We die earlier, and yet we contribute all of our life to the scheme, the pension and what have you, and yet we do not access it as long as others do. We have so much that we can add to help to improve and reduce workplace harm. And if we look at it, we need more workers. We have a large proportion of young Māori who are going to, who are going to in the next 50 years, they're going to be a large proportion of our population. So if we want to ensure that we have growth without having to go externally from New Zealand for that growth, we need to ensure that they are upskilled and they are kept safe.

Greg:

These looking back and summary episodes really capture the essence of what it takes to indigenize health and safety practices. I hope you found something valuable that you can take away that might enhance aspects of your own cultural intelligence. I'll add the transcript from this episode to the show notes. If you'd like to talk about cultural intelligence, get in touch with me via LinkedIn. If we aren't connected, send me an invite. If you want to hear more about CQ, you can follow or subscribe to this podcast. I'd really appreciate it if you did that. And keep an eye out for the next episode. Thanks for tuning in to The Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional. Ka kitei.