Members of our Board have backgrounds in New Zealand’s work health and safety environment, including work illness and occupational disease, public sector governance, central government processes, worker and business perspectives, administration of work health and safety legislation and risk management frameworks, and business generally.

Murray Jagger – Chair

Murray Jagger is a director of Manaia View Farms Limited and recently completed nine years as chair of Marsden Maritime Holdings Limited. He brings deep knowledge of high-risk operations and health and safety challenges, along with extensive experience in strategy development and implementation.

Murray also understands the role of a regulator and offers significant governance experience, strong commercial and financial acumen, and proven leadership.

Bill Moran – Deputy Chair

Bill has significant experience in the public sector, particularly in business transformation leadership, and economic and financial expertise. He currently holds governance roles across government, private sector, and not-for-profit organisations, following a 30-year career at the New Zealand Treasury. His government and Crown roles include Deputy Chair of the NZ Qualifications Authority, Director of NZ TAB and Te Pūkenga, Independent Member of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee of the Queenstown Lakes District Council, and Member of the Arts Council of NZ.

In the private sector, he serves as a Director of Pioneer Energy Limited and its subsidiary companies.

In the not-for-profit and community sector, Bill is Chair of Chamber Music at the World’s Edge Foundation in New Zealand and the USA, Trustee of At the World’s Edge Music Foundation in the UK, the Parliamentary Education Trust, Hoops and Life Awhi Trust, and Iti Kōpara.

In 2019, he was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to State, Sport, and Youth.

Brett O’Riley

Brett O’Riley is the former chief executive officer of the Employers and Manufacturers Association and brings strong industry networks and contacts. Brett has extensive experience in designing and implementing system-wide outcome improvement campaigns, underpinned by sound governance knowledge and commercial acumen.

He also offers strong stakeholder and relationship management skills and a clear understanding of wider health and safety system changes.

Chris Alderson

Chris Alderson is a seasoned health and safety professional with extensive experience across the public and private sectors. Chris brings strong construction sector networks, deep knowledge of industry health and safety frameworks, and a clear understanding of regulatory bodies. He has deep experience designing construction industry training and system-wide education and engagement campaigns to improve worker outcomes.

Chris is a chartered accountant, chief executive of Construction Health and Safety New Zealand (CHASNZ), and a director of Mates in Construction.

Mark Leslie

Mark is passionate about health and safety, which he believes should always be at the heart of every operation, as everyone should be supported to get home safe every night.

He is the CEO of Pāmu (Landcorp Farming Limited), and has held various influential roles throughout his career, including operations, logistics, and quality assurance, together with technology and product development. Before joining Pāmu, he served as the Chief Operations Officer at Silver Fern Farms and spent nearly two decades at Fonterra.

His extensive experience has been recognised through various board and ministerial advisory roles. He is currently also serving as a director on the board of Safer Farms, which is about supporting farming leaders and workers to protect each other from preventable harm.

Growing up on a dairy farm in Reporoa on the North Island’s Central Plateau, Mark has a deep understanding of the agricultural sector and its safety challenges.

Elena Trout

Elena is an experienced independent director and chair across both the private and public sectors. She has a professional engineering background and has led large projects particularly in the energy and transport sectors.

She has been the independent Chair of WorkSafe New Zealand’s Audit, Risk and Finance Committee since mid-2023 prior to being appointed to the WorkSafe board.  

Elena’s current governance roles include Chair of the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority, Co-Chair of Waihanga Ara Rau Workforce Development Council for Construction and Infrastructure, Deputy Chair for Ara Ake Ltd, and Board member and Chair of the Audit Risk and Finance Committee for Callaghan Innovation. She is also an independent director and chair of health and safety or audit and finance committees for several boards such as Contact Energy, CityCare Limited, Spencer Henshaw, and Te Rāhui Herenga Waka Whakatāne. 

Kevin Jenkins

Kevin is a professional director and commentator. He chairs the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, the NZ Qualifications Authority, and Iti Kōpara, a trust providing professional development for Crown entity directors, and is a director of urban development firm Harrison Grierson, community housing company Accessible Properties NZ, the Building Research Assocation of NZ, and WorkSafe. He also chairs or is a member of three risk and assurance committees for other organisations.

Paul Connell

Paul is a finance and governance professional with extensive experience across a wide range of sectors. He is the current Chair of the Auckland Council Audit and Risk Committee; a member of the Waikato Regional Council Risk and Audit Committee; a Director of the Environmental Protection Authority and Chair of its Audit and Risk committee.  

Paul is the current Chair of Telarc Limited, New Zealand’s largest certifier of quality, environmental and health and safety systems and was formerly Chair of the Accreditation Council for nine years. He has governance experience in the electricity sector and is currently a Director WEL Networks Limited. He has extensive and deep knowledge of public accountability, finance, and governance practices.