Jo Prigmore tests every health and safety rule and document with one question: will it work at 3am in the pouring rain? It's how she turns policies and procedures into something people can use.
Jo was one of Her Majesty's inspectors of health and safety in the UK before moving to New Zealand around 20 years ago. She now holds a national health and safety role. She says the average reading age here is about that of a seven year old and that jargon loses most people. She'd take 80 per cent right, 80 per cent of the time, usable by 80 per cent of people over perfect and unread. We also talk about blanket rules like banning ladders, toilets and dignity for women on construction sites and what happens when we let technology do our thinking for us.
What we cover in this episode
- The 3am in the rain test for any safety rule
- Writing for the reading age of the people doing the work
- Why blanket rules get ignored
- Doing safety with people, not to them
- Toilets, sanitary bins and dignity on site
- Getting listened to as a health and safety person
- What a generalist needs to know about health and wellbeing
- Reversing cameras and switching our brains off
Episode chapters
- 0:00 Introduction
- 1:00 Meet Jo Prigmore
- 4:04 From UK inspector to New Zealand
- 6:05 Will it work at 3am in the rain
- 7:07 Reading age and jargon
- 9:10 Why blanket rules fail
- 12:12 Why simple is harder to write
- 15:17 Toilets and dignity on site
- 23:28 Work she's proud of
- 29:37 Getting listened to
- 35:46 Health and wellbeing
- 41:59 Lessons from a national role
- 46:02 Building your skills
- 51:05 Technology and over-reliance
- 58:12 Wrap up
Connect with Jo Prigmore
Find Jo on LinkedIn. She asks for short messages.
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This episode sits in the Critical risk on the ground collection. Browse every episode or follow the show on Spotify so you don't miss the next one.
About the host
Matt Jones is the founder of Advanced Safety and a HASANZ-registered health and safety consultant. He's a Professional Member of NZISM, holds a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health and founded the New Zealand Health and Safety Professionals community. His book is Raise the Standard: Why Good Organisations Go Blind and How Leaders Restore Visibility.
Guests share their own views and experience. This page is general information, not legal advice. Latest update: 13 November 2026
