We want to hear about your experiences
We want to start a conversation about New Zealand’s work health and safety regulatory system, particularly how you think it’s working now and what you think should change.
On this page
Following the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy in 2010, a Royal Commission and Independent Taskforce recommended changes to New Zealand’s work health and safety regulatory system to address failings and improve health and safety. This led to the creation of a new health and safety regulator in 2013 – WorkSafe New Zealand – and passage of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSW Act) in 2015.
It’s been nearly 10 years since passage of the HSW Act. Successive Governments have invested heavily in the work health and safety regulatory system, including in WorkSafe. Businesses and other organisations (eg schools, charities) have also invested significantly to understand the law and meet its requirements.
Although New Zealand’s work health and safety law is adapted from the Australian law, New Zealand’s health and safety record remains worse than Australia's and has been slow to improve. We have heard that businesses are struggling to understand their health and safety obligations and are unsure how to comply, which creates risks for workers.
That’s why it’s timely to review the work health and safety regulatory system. We want a system that supports businesses to focus on preventing harm to workers and minimises compliance costs.
We want to hear about your experiences with the work health and safety system as a whole and with its different parts. Your feedback will help shape what form the Government’s health and safety reform might take. This consultation document sets out some specific areas for your feedback:
- How businesses and organisations make their decisions about health and safety, the reasons behind these decisions, and their cost.
- Whether the law strikes the right balance between flexibility and certainty, or whether it may be too detailed in some cases, or not detailed or clear enough in others. We are also interested in people’s thoughts on the information sources they use.
- How businesses and organisations engage with workers, how workers participate in health and safety, and the impact this has on health and safety.
- Experiences with health and safety regulators, and the people and organisations that act on behalf of the regulators or have other roles within the system.
- Whether the work health and safety regulatory system is meeting its objective.
You are also welcome to share feedback on any other aspect of the work health and safety system.
The consultation process
The consultation is open from 14 June 2024 until 31 October 2024.
Further information about the consultation process and how to make a submission can be found on the Have your say page:
Have your say on work health and safety
What will happen with feedback
The information provided in submissions will be used to inform the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) policy development and will inform advice to Ministers about improvements to the work health and safety regulatory system. We may contact submitters directly if we require clarification of any matters in the submissions.
Release of information
MBIE will publish a summary of submissions on its website. Submissions remain subject to request under the Official Information Act 1982. Please clearly indicate in the cover letter or e-mail accompanying your submission if you have any objection to the release of any information in the submission, and which parts you consider should be withheld, together with the reasons for withholding the information. MBIE will take such objections into account and will consult with submitters as it considers necessary when responding to requests under the Official Information Act.
Private information
The Privacy Act 2020 establishes certain principles with respect to the collection, use and disclosure of information about individuals by various agencies, including MBIE. Any personal information you supply to MBIE in the course of making a submission will only be used for the purpose of assisting in the development of advice in relation to this consultation, for contacting you about your submission, or to advise you of the outcome of the consultation, including any next steps. We may also use personal information you supply in the course of making a submission for other reasons permitted under the Privacy Act (eg with your consent, for a directly related purpose, or where the law permits or requires it). Please clearly indicate in your submission if you do not wish your name, or any other personal information, to be included in any summary of submissions that MBIE may publish.
We will only retain personal information as long as it is required for the purposes for which the information may lawfully be used. Where any information provided (which may include personal information) constitutes public records, it will be retained to the extent required by the Public Records Act 2005. We may also be required to disclose information under the Official Information Act, to a Parliamentary Select Committee or Parliament in response to a Parliamentary Question. You have rights of access to and correction of your personal information which can be found on this website at the link below.