Afele worked as a Health & Safety Inspector in the Auckland South Office. As an Inspector he was authorised to enforce New Zealand’s workplace health and safety laws, the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015. He has investigated incidents, inspected workplaces from all primary Sectors, assessed risks and controls, and has required businesses to take action where health and safety duties are not being met. The Inspector Role has given Afele a foundation that allowed him to find his passion for helping vulnerable workers, especially the dire statistics of which Maori & Pacific workers are over represented.

A Health & Safety Service Provider for Pacific Business Trust supports Pacific businesses to understand and meet their health and safety responsibilities. The role involves providing practical advice, risk assessments, workplace reviews, documentation, training and guidance, helping businesses build simple, effective safety systems that protect their people and support compliance.

Afele’s first role outside of Worksafe NZ was as a Safety Consultant at LM Safety. The role provided him the skills to give practical, client-focused health and safety advice, helping organisations identify and manage workplace risks and meet their legal obligations. The role also included conducting site assessments, audits and investigations, developing safety systems and documentation, delivering training, and working alongside leaders and workers to build safer, more effective workplaces.

The SHEQ Manager role was Afele’s step into Senior Leadership - tasked with the Auckland Facilities Management contract he was responsible for leading Safety, Health, Environment and Quality across a large, diverse workforce of 200+ staff. The role involved managing operational risks across multiple sites, ensuring legislative and client compliance, supporting managers and workers, leading audits and incident investigations, and driving consistent SHEQ standards, engagement and continuous improvement across the organisation.

As SHEQ Manager at Landscape Solutions, Afele was a member of the Senior Leadership Team, providing strategic leadership across Safety, Health, Environment and Quality. He worked closely with senior leaders and operational teams to manage risk, ensure legislative and client compliance, lead audits and investigations, and drive consistent SHEQ standards and continuous improvement across the business.

Afele was responsible for leading health and safety across the organisation. This was an especially special part of Afeles professional development as this is a Not for profit Kaupapa MAORI Organisation. Working within a Tikanga framework, Afele was to support all tiers of the Organisation and engage with a Cultural responsivity for a safe and inclusive environment for all staff, clients (Tangata - Intellectually Disabled) and the wider community. The role involves risk management, incident investigation, compliance, policy development, worker engagement, training and continuous improvement of health and safety systems at an executive Governance level but being the one H&S role for the organisation, a presence was required for middle management, and frontline staff.

Stepping into his own Entity, Afele started LEVEKI - a Niuean word meaning ‘Protection.’ As a values driven individual, Afele has formed LEVEKI to delivering practical, people-centered health, safety and risk solutions to organisations (Governance) responsible for strategic direction, client relationships, consulting services, safety system development, training and continuous improvement, with a focus on creating inclusive, practical and sustainable workplace safety outcomes.

LEVEKI also serves as a Social Enterprise which allows him to engage the very Communities his passion for safety had ignited from. From participating in Community programmes, educating groups and undertakings that may not have the means to understand what their duties are, LEVEKI is here to help and serves to provide services for the betterment of Pacific & Maori People to return to their loved ones.