Health & Safety Advisor

About The Lines Company

The Lines Company (TLC) has supported the King Country for a century by helping keep electricity flowing. As a community-owned power distribution business, it focuses not only on reliable energy delivery but also on making a meaningful contribution to its customers, communities, and people.

The organisation is taking a distinctive approach to safety. It is the first business in New Zealand to work with Fisher Improvement Technologies and embed the AERO methodology, or Advanced Error Reduction in Organisations, into its way of working. This sits at the centre of a Safety Differently mindset: moving from a compliance-first approach to one that builds capability, asks what the system made possible, and seeks to understand why something made sense at the time. TLC sees this as a long-term culture shift, and the right person will help shape it from an early stage.

The People & Safety team plays a central role in that journey, creating a culture where curiosity replaces blame, learning becomes part of everyday work, and everyone shares responsibility for sending people home safely each day.

The role

TLC is seeking a Health & Safety Advisor focused on systems, assurance, and reporting. This role owns the information and assurance backbone of the safety function: the tools, data, and field-based checks that ensure the organisation is seeing an accurate picture of safety performance.

Reporting to the GM People & Safety in a small, intentionally flat team, the role involves administration of the Assura platform, alignment of workflows and terminology to AERO, and ongoing care of Kotahi and related registers. It also requires close attention to the quality of risk categorisation at the point of entry, including following up on missing or questionable ratings and ensuring they are corrected rather than left unresolved.

The position includes building and managing the Power BI Safety Performance Dashboard and using the Capacity Index as the organisation’s main leading indicator. It also involves preparing Board and Senior Leadership Team reporting that is clear, truthful, and useful for decision-making, even when the findings are uncomfortable.

Another key part of the role is field assurance through the AERO lens. In this context, assurance is not about policing or fault-finding; it is about understanding the difference between work as written and work as actually carried out, checking whether critical controls work in real conditions, and identifying lessons that can improve the system.

The role also runs the internal audit programme, maintains statutory compliance registers, and tracks corrective actions, recognising that an item marked closed is not necessarily fixed. In addition, you will coach action officers and investigators to build their capability in Assura rather than completing tasks on their behalf.

You will work as an equal partner with the Field, Training & Engagement Advisor, contributing data and assurance evidence while they contribute field relationships and operational context.

What you will bring

This role requires someone who is comfortable working across systems, data, and relationships. The ideal person is inquisitive, trusted, and constructive, with a genuine interest in safety intelligence and what it can reveal about operations. You should be able to interpret data for insights, identify system drivers and error traps, and work with others to translate those insights into practical improvements.

Benefits and rewards

Along with a competitive salary, TLC offers a supportive team environment and a leadership group that models the behaviours it expects across the business. The organisation values honesty in reporting and believes safety improvement depends on data that reflects reality.

• Medical and life insurance, together with annual health screenings
• Lifestyle leave days and a volunteer day
• Paid parental leave for both primary and secondary caregivers
• An annual wellbeing payment
• Access to a staff community fund
• Training, development, and career growth opportunities
• Additional employer KiwiSaver contributions after three years
• Staff deals and discounts

Additional information

This is an operational role that requires genuine presence in the field. Experience in high-risk environments such as utilities, construction, or energy is preferred. A tertiary qualification in Health & Safety, data or information management, or a related area would be an advantage.

The recruitment process includes a Ministry of Justice criminal history check, as well as pre-employment medical, alcohol, and drug testing. Applicants must be New Zealand citizens or residents, or hold a valid New Zealand work visa. Applications may be reviewed as they are received, and the advertisement may close early.

This position is part of a community-owned organisation that aims to make a positive difference in the energy sector and in the communities it serves.