Dairyworks is a New Zealand dairy manufacturing and packaging business based in Christchurch, operating five sites in Hornby and employing approximately 350 people across production, processing and support functions.
Since partnering with Safe365 in 2022, Dairyworks has moved from compliance-focused activity to measurable safety culture improvement and a sustained reduction in workplace harm, all while almost doubling in size.
“For me personally, it’s given me something credible to put in front of the leadership team. Rather than advocating for H&S investment based on gut feel or incident data alone, I can point to assessment results and say here’s our maturity profile, here’s the gap, here’s where the effort needs to go.”
Chris O’Brien, Health and Safety Manager, Dairyworks
88%
Reduction in TRIFR (50.2 to 6.2)
5 pts
Increase in safety culture maturity
74%
Reduction in average days lost per injury
190 to 350
Employees, with safety culture strengthening throughout that growth
The Challenge
Creating a clear picture of safety culture
When Dairyworks began with Safe365 in 2022, the business had approximately 190 employees. Since then, the organisation has experienced significant operational and workforce growth, almost doubling in size while continuing to mature its health and safety programme.
Like many organisations within food manufacturing, Dairyworks had strong compliance systems and safety activity already taking place across the business. What it lacked was a structured way to understand whether those efforts were actually improving safety culture.
Traditional safety reporting provided information about incidents and compliance, but it didn’t answer the questions leadership were asking:
- Are we improving?
- What does good actually look like?
- How do we compare with similar organisations?
- Where should we invest our effort next?
Without an objective baseline, it was difficult to demonstrate progress to executives and the Board or confidently prioritise future improvements.
Like many organisations across the manufacturing sector, Dairyworks recognised that compliance alone wasn’t enough. The next step was creating an evidence-based understanding of safety culture that could drive continual improvement.
This was not a technology deployment. It was a strategic shift from reactive compliance to proactive, data-driven governance.
“We had activity happening across the business but no common language or objective baseline to align leadership and the operational teams.”
Why Safe365
“The benchmarking capability was particularly appealing. Being able to see how Dairyworks compares to others in the sector gives the leadership team real context.”
Safe365 stood out because it provided much more than another assessment.
Instead of relying on subjective opinions, the platform provided an evidence-based measurement of safety culture that could be repeated over time, benchmarked against industry peers and used to guide improvement.
For Chris, benchmarking became one of the biggest differentiators.
“I think benchmarking is really, really helpful because that explains what good is. Everybody asks, what’s our measuring stick? What are we comparing ourselves against? Benchmarking gives you that context.”
Safe365 also suited the needs of a lean health and safety team. Rather than creating dependency on external consultants, the platform provided ongoing capability, allowing Dairyworks to access support when required while maintaining ownership internally as their maturity continued to develop.
The Solution
Phase 1: Planning & Alignment
Dairyworks partnered with Safe365 in 2022 to establish an organisation-wide baseline of its safety culture maturity.
The initial assessment enabled Safe365 to understand the business, review current practices and provide leadership with a clear picture of where the organisation sat compared with industry benchmarks and recognised best practice.
“It was helpful having someone from the Safe365 team come to site, understand a little more about what we do and what our current maturity level was, then share what ‘good looks like’ and link that to industry baseline results.”
Phase 2: Measurement
A key part of the process was ensuring the assessment genuinely reflected the organisation.
Rather than relying primarily on leadership perspectives, Dairyworks deliberately designed workshops with approximately 80 to 90% frontline workers and only 10 to 20% management.
Different participants were selected for each assessment, ensuring broader organisational representation over time and providing a more accurate picture of safety culture across the business.
Representation was also sought across manufacturing, packing, warehousing, logistics, administration and supply chain functions.
“We might think we’ve done really well, but I want to know what you think and how well we’re doing.”
Phase 3: Insights and benchmarking
The assessment results provided Dairyworks with something it had never previously had: an objective measurement of safety culture supported by benchmarking.
Rather than simply producing a score, Safe365 demonstrated where Dairyworks sat against manufacturing, other industries and recognised best practice.
This enabled leadership to understand not only current performance but also where future improvement opportunities existed.
“I think having that gap between best practice and industry benchmarking really allows you to show that gap really clearly.”
The benchmarking also became a valuable tool when presenting investment opportunities and improvement priorities to senior leadership.
Phase 4: Improvement
Rather than treating the assessment as a one-off exercise, Dairyworks embedded measurement into its continuous improvement journey.
Assessments completed in 2022, 2023 and 2025 enabled leadership to validate progress, identify new priorities and continue lifting maturity over time.
As capability improved in one area, attention shifted towards the next opportunity for improvement.
“It tells us that although we’re improving, we need to continuously stretch our maturity year on year and not get complacent.”
The Results
Improvement in leading and lagging indicators
One of the most significant outcomes of the Safe365 journey has been the ability to demonstrate that improvements in safety culture have been accompanied by meaningful improvements in traditional safety performance.
Rather than relying solely on compliance activity or incident reporting, Dairyworks can now demonstrate measurable progress across both leading and lagging indicators, providing confidence that cultural improvements are translating into operational outcomes.
Safety culture maturity up 5 points
Since establishing its baseline in 2022, Dairyworks has lifted its safety culture maturity by 5 points through repeated measurement, benchmarking and targeted improvement initiatives.
Importantly, these improvements have been achieved while the organisation has grown from approximately 190 employees to around 350, demonstrating that safety culture has continued to strengthen throughout a period of significant business growth.
TRIFR reduced by almost 90%
The organisation’s Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) reduced from 50.2 in August 2022 to 6.2 by June 2026.
While multiple initiatives contribute to safety performance, the Safe365 programme has provided the structured framework, measurement and improvement pathway that supports continual improvement and evidence-based decision making.
Severity of injuries reduced
Not only have injuries reduced, but when injuries have occurred, their impact has also reduced significantly.
Average days lost per injury reduced from:
- 4.58 days per injury (August 2024)
- 1.17 days per injury (June 2026)
This represents a substantial reduction in injury severity and supports the broader objective of creating a safer workplace.
Stronger leadership conversations
Perhaps the greatest impact has been the quality of conversations taking place at executive and Board level.
Rather than discussing safety based solely on incidents or intuition, leadership can now make decisions using objective maturity data supported by benchmarking.
Safety culture has moved from being viewed as a difficult concept to measure to becoming an evidence-based discussion grounded in data.
“For the exec team it’s provided assurance that we have a structured improvement pathway, not just activity for activity’s sake.”
The Strategic Impact
The value of Safe365 extends well beyond measuring safety culture
For Dairyworks, it has established a common language that connects frontline workers, leadership and governance through evidence rather than opinion.
By combining leading indicators such as safety culture maturity with traditional lag measures including TRIFR and Lost Time Injuries, the organisation now has a far more complete understanding of safety performance.
Benchmarking has also provided the context needed to understand what good looks like, where Dairyworks sits today and where improvement efforts should be focused next.
As the business continues to grow, the ability to repeatedly measure, benchmark and improve provides confidence that safety culture will continue developing alongside operational performance.
“It’s really helpful because Safe365 says here’s what great looks like, here’s what good looks like, here’s what average looks like and here’s what the rest of the industry looks like.”
What this means for your organisation
If you’re moving beyond compliance
Dairyworks demonstrates that measuring safety culture provides the missing link between activity and meaningful improvement.
If you’re looking for stronger executive reporting
Evidence-based maturity measurement creates more productive conversations with senior leaders and Boards by clearly demonstrating progress, priorities and investment opportunities.
If you’re managing growth
The Dairyworks journey shows that safety culture can continue improving even during periods of significant organisational expansion when supported by structured measurement and continuous improvement.
About Dairyworks
Dairyworks is a New Zealand dairy manufacturing and packaging company based in Christchurch. Operating across five sites and employing approximately 350 people, Dairyworks produces and packages dairy products for domestic and international markets while maintaining a strong focus on operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Ready to understand the real drivers of risk in your organisation?
Book a discovery session to explore how Safe365 helps you measure, benchmark, and improve safety culture with evidence-based insight.
Read how Wintec measured safety culture across 18 business units
