Proposed Changes to the Health and Safety at Work Act
The Government has introduced the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill to Parliament, proposing significant changes to New Zealand’s health and safety framework.
The proposed reforms are intended to reduce compliance burden and provide businesses with greater certainty around what is expected of them under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
One of the most significant proposed changes is the introduction of “critical risk” into the legislation. Under the Bill, critical risks would include risks likely to result in death, serious injury, illness or notifiable incidents.
The proposed reforms would require businesses to prioritise these risks when managing workplace health and safety. In practical terms, this is likely to mean increased focus on higher-risk activities such as:
working at height
machinery and plant operation
hazardous substances
vehicle and forklift use
serious manual handling risks
remote or isolated work
high-risk construction, forestry and manufacturing activities.
The Bill also proposes changes for businesses with fewer than 20 workers. The intention behind the reforms is to reduce the compliance burden for smaller employers by allowing greater focus on critical risks and less emphasis on lower-level risks that are unlikely to result in serious harm.
Other proposed reforms include increased reliance on Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs), which are intended to give employers clearer practical guidance around how to meet their health and safety obligations. The Bill also proposes clarification around officer duties, reinforcing that officers are primarily responsible for governance and oversight of health and safety systems, rather than day to day operational management.
We will keep you updated with further developments.
Sylvia Wood
Director