Our Safer Homes programme

Find out more about the Safer Homes programme and download activities and resources.

Hazardous chemicals are in our homes and lives, and in places where we may not realise.

Did you know you can find hazardous substances in cleaning products, toothpaste, make-up, pet shampoos and even kids’ colouring-in crayons?

Our Safer Homes programme helps New Zealanders to keep themselves and their families safe at home around hazardous substances. These chemicals are essential parts of many household products, so it’s important to use them in ways that keep everybody safe and without damaging our environment.

We work with our communities

Our programme promotes safety messages by getting involved with community events and shows around the country.

We also team up with schools and community groups to share our messages, and find out what's important to them and their whānau to protect themselves and the environment from chemical harm.

Our programme partnerships

We work alongside organisations with similar safety messages to share and educate communities together. For example:

Plunket
Kāinga Ora — Homes and Communities
EcoMatters
Sustainability Trust
SPCA
Apiculture NZ.

We have also partnered with New Zealand Rugby to visit schools in targeted areas, and we work with councils to distribute information and guidance in their regions.

We use research

The data that we use to determine where and how we are going to deliver the programme is from our HSNO Monitoring Reports, and the EHINZ (Environmental Health Indicators NZ) and Massey University annual reporting on hazardous substances-related hospitalisations.

Read the HSNO monitoring reports

Read about EHINZ environmental health indicators — hazardous substances