Who we are

The Government Health and Safety Lead (GHSL) was formed in 2017 under the leadership of Ray Smith, then Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections. The GHSL moved to the Ministry of Primary Industries in 2019 following Ray Smith’s appointment as Director-General.

The GHSL is a small team tasked with providing practical support to chief executives, senior leaders and the health and safety teams of government agencies to enable their leadership of health and safety for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

The GHSL works with 50 public service and other government agencies to:

strengthen system capability
build cross-sector relationships that sustain learning and intelligence about what works
raise awareness of issues and opportunities
support sharing of proactive and joined up responses
develop resources to support the system, where is it practical to do so.

The GHSL Team

Lance Goodall - Director
Lance.Goodall@mpi.govt.nz

Braden Lister - Principal Adviser Health and Safety
Braden.Lister@mpi.govt.nz

Liam Bourne - Principal Adviser, Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Liam.Bourne@mpi.govt.nz

Debbie Bridge - Principal Adviser, Health and Safety Workforce Capability
Deborah.Bridge@mpi.govt.nz

Anita McGhie-Filkins - Executive Coordinator
Anita.McGhie-Filkins@mpi.govt.nz

Find out more about functional leadership in the New Zealand state sector on the Te Kawa Mataaho (Public Service Commission)(external(external link) link)(external link) website.