In the world of workplace health and safety, no news is good news. It's only when something bad happens that you'll hear about it in the media. Meanwhile, many people all around New Zealand work hard to ensure their colleagues can go home from work in the same healthy condition they arrived in, but until 2005 their best efforts went largely unrecognised.

Workplace health and safety efforts recognised

That year Safeguard magazine launched the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards to remedy this injustice. Every year since then more than 100 health and safety initiatives have been assessed by the judging panel and the best of them celebrated at a gala dinner at SkyCity Convention Centre in Auckland.

Who is your Health and Safety hero?

Entries are now open for the 2013 awards. Entry is free and straightforward. There are eight different categories for organisations, and three for individuals. A new individual category this year is Executive Leader, sponsored by the Business Leaders' Health &d Safety Forum. This is open to senior executives or directors who are not health & safety practitioners but whose leadership has helped transform their organisation's health & safety culture.

Get your vote in

Closing date to get your entry in is Friday 19 April. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Auckland on 29 May. So if you work in HR or health & safety, please take some time to reflect on your most successful initiatives over the last year or so. And be sure to enter them. Also think about people you have encountered along the way who have gone the extra mile, and nominate them in the individual categories. Then be sure to attend the gala dinner with more than 400 others to celebrate all the good work.

Enter, and attend the dinner

Everything you need to know about entering - and the gala dinner - is available here