Producing Guidance Material
This document provides advice for industries or organisations who are thinking about developing guidance material on health and safety or employment relations matters. It is particularly relevant where Department of Labour endorsement of the material developed is desired.
Introduction
The technical expertise and practical experience held by industry is recognised and greatly valued by the Department of Labour, and provides an excellent basis upon which guidance material can be developed.
This document describes how an industry or organisation producing guidance material relating to health and safety or employment relations matters should go about developing this material and specifically describes the requirements for the process and guidance material produced for Department of Labour endorsement to be provided.
The Department of Labour can provide support and advice for the development of guidance material in various ways, such as:
- Acting as a catalyst to initiate the review of a particular piece of guidance material
- Facilitating or participating in industry committees
- Providing assistance with project management and scoping of guidance material
- Providing technical advise or expertise
- Endorsement of a document
- Running or assisting with public consultation.
The Department of Labour provides varying levels of support depending on priorities and resources available, and can also lead the development and review of guidance material.
Advice can be sourced from standards@dol.govt.nz or 0800 20 90 20.
It is important that any guidance material developed is aligned with the relevant legislation, and that current national and international knowledge and best practice is considered.
Tone and Style of Guidance Material
Guidance material can come in varying forms from a formal guideline or standards document to brochures, pamphlets or websites.
The target audience needs should be at the centre of any guidance material developed, and will often help to determine the appropriate type of guidance material
The material developed should consider the types of people working in the industry or organisation at different levels and their education and literacy.
For example, if the material is being developed for manufacturers or company management a guideline may be most appropriate, but where it is for the user of a piece of machinery, then a brochure or pamphlet may be best.
All guidance material developed should have a “look and feel” that best meets the needs of the target audience, but should be edited (with no grammatical or punctuation errors), and presented so that it is easy to follow including being in a consistent style (i.e. not in many different fonts).
Larger, particularly long guidance material such as guidelines could have:
- Title page
- Table of contents
- List of referenced standards/legislation
- Foreword (optional)
- Summary of the requirements and obligations under the relevant Acts and Regulations (as applicable)
- Definitions/glossary
- Clearly labelled illustrations (as applicable)
- Content set out in a logical, sequential manner.
Process for Development of Guidance Material
There are three stages to the process for development of guidance material:
- Scoping and draft development
- Consultation
- Publication and release.
Scoping and Draft Development
The first step is to identify the need. The topic should be of sufficient value to the industry or organisation to warrant development of guidance material. Confirm with the target audience that there is a need for the material and it will be used.
Once the need is confirmed, scope what the guidance material will and will not cover and the type of guidance material to be developed. Check that there are no conflicts with guidance material that already exists.
It is important to check that development of the guidance material is feasible with the people and financial resources available, and that different perspectives are considered. How quickly guidance material is required is also a factor, as a guideline will generally take more time to develop than a brochure or pamphlet.
Information to prepare a draft should be gathered. This may include reviewing evidence from New Zealand and international sources, examining related guidance material, undertaking questionnaires or surveys, interviewing potential users and checking compliance with legislative requirements.
Guidance material can then be drafted. It may be useful if the draft is tested with a number of people or groups, and multiple drafts may be needed. Once a draft is developed that is agreed by the industry or organisation, it should proceed to consultation. Any feedback from consultation should then be used to revise the draft and prepare final guidance material.
Consultation
It is good practice for consultation within the industry or organisation to occur on the guidance material (and is an essential requirement for Department of Labour endorsement). This may occur at varying times including during the scoping of the document, the development of material or on a final draft. Consultation is the key process used to review the content of draft guidance material to ensure it meets an identified need, the content addresses the need, and consulted parties agree with the content.
Consultation may be undertaken in a number of ways:
- Public consultation of a document
- Public forum consultation
- By industry/expert review committee or working party
- Engagement with associations
- Consultation with experts.
For Department of Labour endorsement of industry guidance material, a formal public consultation process is required. This should be a consultation period of at least one month, with material accessible via a website (the Department’s or other appropriate websites agreed with the Department).
Notice of the consultation should be given by email to industry or sector contacts including appropriate associations and their members, Departments, and notices in industry publications.
Consultation is almost always likely to result in substantial change before the development of a final document.
Publication and Release
Once a final version of the guidance material is prepared, it should be published and disseminated within the industry or organisation.
Material may be published in hard copies, and should be made available electronically to most effectively reach the target audience.
The industry should be informed that the guidance has been prepared and is available.
Endorsement by the Department of Labour
When considering endorsement of guidance material by the Department of Labour, contact standards@dol.govt.nz or 0800 20 90 20 as early as possible to discuss.
Department of Labour endorsement is only given to guidance material that is developed by industry or sector groups. It does not extend to products or systems. Any endorsement of material is at the Department of Labour’s discretion.
Endorsement indicates the Department’s support for guidance material that is developed by the industry or sector groups. Endorsement is shown through the inclusion in the document of the Department of Labour logo, and a disclaimer. The Department may also provide a foreword.
It is required that endorsed guidance material is made available by a link to the industry website from the Department’s website, or by being put on the Department’s website (in HTML and pdf versions).
Endorsement has benefits for the industry or organisation and the Department of Labour, including:
- Ensuring material is reliable, accurate and likely to be helpful and easily understood by those using it
- Better understanding of each other
- Joint support for the material developed
- Providing assurance for Department of Labour staff of the quality of the document for recommending work practices and use in enforcement
- Allowing more guidance material to be available than the Department of Labour’s resources would otherwise allow.
The industry or organisation developing the guidance material should discuss endorsement with the Department of Labour as early as possible – preferably before scoping and drafting occurs. Even where the Department of Labour has not been contacted early, endorsement could still be possible as long as a robust and verifiable process has been followed, particularly around scoping and consultation.
The industry or organisation and the Department of Labour will agree on the nature of the material being developed and the process to be used. This may include requirements for:
- The involvement of a specialist group in the development of the guidance material.
This is a representative group to ensure industry support, and to develop the guidelines from technical knowledge the industry may have. Depending on the type and size of guidance material being developed, the committee may include association members, supply chain representatives, management, contractors, hire companies, union/safety council etc, the Department and other agencies (ACC/EPA etc) where applicable. - A formal public consultation process is undertaken to aid consensus and ensure the accuracy, completeness and integrity of the material.
- A review of the guidance material by the Department of Labour.
This is a check by the Department’s standards setting team on alignment with legislation and the Department’s perspectives and priorities, and that the material articulates an acceptable standard. The presentation and editing of the guidance material is also checked by the Department’s communications team.
