Damaging small businesses Small businesses must feel as though their pockets have been squeezed by the Government over the last few years. Just after the announcement that businesses will have to fork out extra holiday pay, the Government is making yet another demand on their cheque books. With the amendment of the Workplace Health and Safety strategy businesses will have to pay for health and safety training, regular ongoing fees and pay for professional advice from advisers. We are not talking pocket change either. One health and safety adviser in my electorate says small businesses pay several hundred dollars a month to keep up with Government regulation. A business with nine people will pay around $200 dollars a month for training, process investigation, liaising with employees and prevention. There is also an ongoing cost of over $2000 a year. A business with 40 people can pay anything from $400 to $800 a month. Does this not seem like a lot of money to anyone else? It seems like the Government is trying to make it hard for small business entrepreneurs to make a living. Another Government money wasting scheme?

When I have asked about just how effective all this regulation is, I am told by experts in the area that there has been an increase in the number of acute injuries. This includes chopping off fingers to walking around in bare feet and getting staples in them. It seems to me that the increase in regulation has led to an increase in stupidity. Where there has been a reduction has been in chronic conditions eg bad backs. Frankly, I suggest that this has more to do with ergonomic furniture and some very good TV advertising by the Accident Compensation Corporation than to any silly manual that no one reads.

New Zealand is a country of small businesses. Small business is not like Government. They don’t have rows of people sitting around pondering what new regulation to come up with. They don’t have rows of people pontificating on the perfect world. They just have to get on and “do it”. Their customers have choice. Their businesses are competing not only in New Zealand but overseas. Surely it is time to cut through all the nonsense and let businesses get on with business. Surely it is time to presume that people need to take some responsibility for their actions. Let’s not make our small businesses even smaller. Let’s encourage people to do their best, not their worst.