Introduction to the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

The new Health and Safety at Work Act came into effect in New Zealand on April 4th 2016.

This new Act has been the subject of much speculation and confusion around what it means for workers and employers. This includes all workers within an organisation, including lone workers.

WorkSafe New Zealand

WorkSafe New Zealand has excellent information that provides an overview of the implications for companies around the country.

Find it here.

A key focus of this is on “proportionality”. This means that the effort in minimising and managing risks should be aligned with the likelihood of the risk occurring and the impact if it does.

Their information covers in detail those within an organisation who are accountable for governance of health and safety within an organisation, understand the risks facing workers and ensure the organisation takes steps to eliminate or minimise these risks.

Key factors are identified as:

1. Leadership; due diligence by senior managers, the commitment of the necessary resources to deliver risk management and the monitoring and measuring the results
2. Competence; the capability to identify risks and control / mitigate these
3. Worker involvement; engaging workers in identifying and managing risks

New Zealand Institute of Directors

The New Zealand Institute of Directors has also just released an updated version of their 2013 resources targeted at company directors.

These are available here.

This health and safety guide updates the 2013 guide and is designed to provide directors with advice on how they can influence health and safety performance in their organisations. It is an essential resource for directors providing information on director responsibilities, the role of directors in health and safety, diagnostic questions and actions for directors as well as case studies and a checklist.