Employment Relations and Health and Safety Consultancy

Our consulting division can provide customised solutions on a range of topics to help your business
keep safe and on track when it comes to managing its most crucial asset – its people.

The team have up to date multisectoral experience with cutting edge knowledge so rest assured your in safe hands.

Ensure you protect your business and your employees with the right advice and support. Our team of consultants cover towns from Taupo to Northland. Here's some of what we can help you with.
For more information and bookings, free call AdviceLine 0800 300 362.

 

  • RestructuringGet help with undertaking change in your business.
  • Personal GrievanceWe can assist you with personal grievances to get the best outcome.
  • Collective bargainingOur team are some of the most experienced collective bargaining specialists in the country. Call us today for expert support on all union maters.
  • OHS management systems design & implementation We can help you implement effective systems for your business.
  • Critical risk Understand and carry out critical risk reviews in your business.
  • WorkSafe SafePlus AssessmentsA toolkit you can use to understand what good health and safety looks like, beyond minimum legal requirements.

Meet the team

Our team of seasoned experts is on-hand to help you with any of your Employment Relations or Human Resources issues, and to help keep your people safe.

  • Armin Naghizadeh Head of Consultancy armin@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Armin leads our experienced network of consultants in the employment relations, human resources and health and safety fields. He has a legal and management background having graduated from Waikato University and was admitted to the bar in 2011. Armin’s experience incorporates his expertise in employment legislation alongside his skills gained in management roles within health and financial services. Read more
  • Murray Broadbelt ER/HR Consultant - Auckland murray.broadbelt@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Murray has been working in the employment relations field for more than 30 years, with experience in collective bargaining, personal grievances, employment agreements, investigations, restructuring, mediations and general human resources. Murray leads a team of specialists for EMA based in Whangarei, covering the Northland Region. He has previously held HR roles in large manufacturing businesses in Auckland and Whangarei. Read more
  • Russell Drake ER/HR Consultant - Waikato russell.drake@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Russell has led the EMA's Waikato consulting practice since 2010 and is an experienced employment relations and dispute resolution practitioner. Russell acts as an independent mediator in workplace dispute situations and also as advocate for the employer in all forums from the workplace and mediation services to the Employment Authority and Employment Court. Read more
  • Peter Elder ER/HR Consultant - Auckland peter.elder@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Peter [BA, BSoc Sc (Hons), Dip IR] is an experienced human resources professional who between 1976 and 1986 worked in the Personnel and Industrial Relations Division of the Ministry of Transport. In 1986 Peter was appointed to the establishment unit of the Airways Corporation, and from 1988 to 1992 was a consultant and advocate with the Auckland Employers’ Association. From 1992 to 2000 he was the Human Resources Manager for Auckland City Council. Since 2000 Peter has been a Consultant, specialising in all aspects of human resources management and business excellence. Peter is a past Board member of EMA - Northern, and has been an EMA Employment Relations Consultant since July 2002. Read more
  • Myriam Heynen ER/HR Consultant - Auckland myriam.heynen@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Myriam Heynen [BA, Dip Bus PMER, MRCSA] began her exposure to business in the family printing firm at a young age. After completing a BA, her entry to Human Resource management was recruiting and training volunteers for a not-for profit organisation. Her primary HR roles have been with Trustbank (2.5 years) and Fisher & Paykel (8 years) before independent HR contracting since 1998 in Australia and New Zealand. Passionate about imparting knowledge, Myriam has also been involved in the design and delivery of training in aspects of HR management. Myriam has been an EMA employment relations consultant since February 2003. Read more
  • Chris Longman ER/HR Consultant - Bay of Plenty chris.longman@ema.co.nz
    Chris is our lead HR and Employment Relations specialist in Tauranga - supporting businesses within the wider Bay of Plenty, from Waihi to the Eastern Bay. Chris has over 15 years experience working within human resource management in the public and private sectors. Whether it's updating your employment documentation, assisting you to plan and implement a restructure, or dealing with a difficult employment investigation or situation; Chris can work with you to step you through a fair process to get the right result. He is regularly commended for his promptness, professionalism and quality of service. Read more
  • Bruce Lotter ER/HR Consultant - Auckland bruce.lotter@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Bruce is an experienced human resources and employment relations professional providing strategic and operational advice, pragmatic solutions and hands on assistance for employers. He has extensive human resources, employment relations, employment law and general management experience, having held executive management and also senior human resources roles within medium sized family businesses, employer organisations and a multi site global corporate. Bruce previously specialised in employment law and employment relations practicing as an attorney in the employment law and commercial litigation teams of a large national law firm in South Africa. Read more
  • Max McGowan ER/HR Consultant - Auckland max.mcgowan@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Max has had many years as a successful practitioner and consultant in the Employment Relations field. Max's strengths lie in assisting small, medium companies in dealing with everyday human resource and employee relations issues that arise and the obligations to comply with legislative requirements. Max believes his strengths include being able to offer employers hands-on experience and timely and pragmatic advice on most issues in the area of Human Resources and Employee Relations. Read more
  • Lisa Oakley ER/HR Consultant - Auckland Lisa.Oakley@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Lisa Oakley Bcom, PGdipBusAdmin, MMgmt, CFHRINZ, CAHRI is a Board Member and National Vice President of HRNZ, Director of Love Your Work NZ and sits on the Workbridge Council. Lisa has 20 years' experience in HR and HSE in large scale service environments in Australia and New Zealand across a range of industries. Notably she has worked with Spark and Air New Zealand as well as many Not for Profit organisations and SME’s as a Consultant. Lisa is presently a volunteer Business Mentor through Business Mentors NZ and is motivated by supporting SME leaders and organisations to reach their full potential. Lisa tutors Contemporary HR and ER at Massey University and is working towards her Grad Dip in Occupational Health and Safety, Accredited Coaching Certification, Mediators and Personal Investigators Licenses. Lisa will partner with your business to provide customised HR support for people strategy, policy, structure, capability, culture and operational excellence. Lisa is experienced in all areas of HR and particularly passionate about Leadership, Performance, and Dispute Resolution. Read more
  • Sarah Selwood ER/HR Consultant - Auckland sarah.selwood@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     ER|HR consultant available to provide support to members for HR projects. My passion is managing performance to improve business results, employment relations, and leadership development. I have corporate and small business experience. I am an experienced workplace investigator, a qualified mediator and have a depth of experience in responding to workplace conflict and personal grievances for employers, including representation at mediation and negotiated settlements. When undertaking restructuring, I will guide you in following a fair and compliant process, and assist in managing your risks on the way through. If you require HR support for very small or larger projects, I'd be happy to discuss your requirements and how I can assist. Read more
  • Tarrin Terry ER/HR Consultant - Bay of Plenty tarrin.terry@ema.co.nz
    +64 (7) 3480334     Tarrin is our HR and Employment Relations specialist based in Rotorua. She has been supporting organisations within the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato regions for over six years and is highly regarded for her prompt, efficient and excellent service. Her specialty areas include personal grievances, disciplinary investigations, mediation and change management (restructures). Tarrin has held senior HR roles in New Zealand and overseas in manufacturing, forestry and local government. She provides businesses with strategic and operational HR advice across numerous industries. Her ability to guide businesses through the process enables 'sticky' situations (like personal grievances and disciplinary investigations) to be resolved quickly and effectively. Read more
  • Clive Thomson ER/HR Consultant - Bay of Plenty clive.thomson@ema.co.nz
    +64 (7) 3480334     Clive is our Collective Bargaining Specialist based in Rotorua and for 16 years leads our well-respected HR | ER team who service the Bay of Plenty, South Waikato and Central North Island regions. He is highly regarded for his expertise and delivery of pragmatic and practical solutions. Clive has a Master’s Degree in Labour Relations (Auckland University) and has attended Executive Education courses at the Melbourne Business School (HR Strategy) and Harvard Law School (Advanced Masterclass in Negotiation). He has held senior HR roles in the health, metals manufacturing and forestry / lumber industries. With more than 25 years experience, Clive comes highly recommended for his mastery in HR Strategy and Collective Bargaining. He is currently the lead negotiator for approximately 50 Collective Agreements. Read more
  • Jason Tuck ER/HR Consultant - Auckland jason.tuck@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Jason has a business degree combined with over 30 years Human Resources and Employment Relations Management experience. During his career he has utilised his skills and experience in the Public Health and Housing sectors, for NGOs and well known companies such as Carter Holt Harvey, Air New Zealand, Ports of Auckland and Countdown. Read more
  • Amanda Wallis ER/HR Consultant - Bay of Plenty amanda.wallis@ema.co.nz
    +64 (7) 3480334     Amanda is our HR | Employment Relations specialist based in Rotorua. She specialises in the area of bullying and harassment, conducting independent investigations when either informal or formal complaints arise as well as delivering in-house education. Companies nationwide have utilised her expertise in this area and she is regularly sought after to speak at conferences on this topic. Amanda has a BA in Psychology and has held senior HR roles in the health, wood processing and agriculture industries and utilises this experience when providing leadership/HR coaching. She is well regarded for her comprehensive knowledge and experience across all employment relations matters and developing high-performing teams. Read more
  • Susan Rhodes Health & Safety Consultant - Auckland susan.rhodes@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Susan is an experienced and well respected Safety and Compliance Consultant with 20 years experience across a wide variety of industries, including transport and distribution (rail, airports, long and short haul trucking), manufacturing (both heavy and light), service industries such as food production, retail, office environments, aged care and healthcare. She has a highly successful record of implementing Safety Management Systems, and has a thorough working knowledge of safety compliance and risk. Susan has been conslulting for the EMA for four years, helping clients develop and implement health and safety management systems, preparing health and safety systems for audits, developing work instructions and SOP’s as well s other healthand safety tasks such as contractor management, risk control etc Read more
  • Geoff Brokenshire Health & Safety Consultant - Waikato geoff.brokenshire@ema.co.nz
    +64 (9) 3670900     Geoff has more than 40 years’ experience in handling chemicals in all situations including laboratories and manufacturing plants. He is very experienced in establishing environmental, quality, and health & safety (EQHS) management systems to comply with ISO9001, ISO14001 and AS/NZS4801 standards. Geoff has specialist interests in HSNO (Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1997) compliance. He has had broad exposure to the compliance requirements associated with product registration and manufacture within a wide range of environments and industries. Geoff maintains his currency with legislative changes (current and proposed) through his professional associations and attending professional development training and information days. He has understanding of key off-shore legislation which is being used as the basis for changes to key New Zealand legislation especially in health and safety. Read more
  • Keith Robinson Health & Safety Consultant - Auckland keith@dharmaadvisory.com
    +64 (9) 3670900     Keith has been consulting in health and safety since 1997. Although he is a "generalist", his passion is in the supply chain sector - manufacturing, warehousing and logistics. Keith has tools to provide health and safety reviews for clients and then all of the forms, templates, consulting and training to help the client reach a "compliant" standard ... and then beyond. Read more
  • Brent Sutton Health & Safety Consultant - Auckland brent@riskbrokers.co.nz
    +64 (9) 390 5442     Brent has over 13 years’ experience in occupational risk management and health and safety to Safety Associates. Brent works in partnership with clients, providing practical advice to address health and safety risks and develop strategies to drive improvements in safety culture. He is well regarded as a safety coach and for assisting clients to understand the importance of safety governance, setting clear and understandable safety objectives and providing safety leadership. Brent is also a specialist in health and safety critical event management of serious harm and fatality incidents. Read more