Hon Brooke van Velden
Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety

The Government will boost economic growth by reforming health and safety laws to lessen the cost and burden of compliance on low-risk businesses, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says.

“We’re delivering on the ACT-National coalition agreement to reform health and safety laws and regulations. We want all Kiwis to return home safe after every working day.

“I have travelled across the country meeting with businesses, employers, and workers about how the current system works for them and what they want to see in this reform that will make their work safer. What I have been hearing consistently is that small, low-risk businesses are not sure which risks to focus on and struggle to meet the costs of compliance.

“I’ve listened and I’m acting. Cabinet has today agreed to a suite of system-wide changes, including sharpening the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, to cut through the unnecessary red tape holding these businesses back.

“The first change will be a carve-out for small, low-risk businesses from general Health and Safety at Work Act requirements. These businesses will only have to manage critical risks and provide basic facilities to ensure worker welfare.

“For example, a small clothing shop would still need to provide first aid, emergency plans, and basic facilities, such as suitable lighting, but wouldn’t need to have a psychosocial harm policy in place.

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“This will improve outcomes for businesses and workers by focusing the system on critical risks and getting rid of unnecessary costs, making sure there is less paperwork and more clarity on what will make workplaces safe.”

Cabinet has also agreed to:

• Reduce tick-box health and safety activities that do not protect workers from harm by sharpening the primary purpose of the Health and Safety at Work Act to focus on critical risk,
• Address over-compliance due to overlapping health and safety duties by clarifying the boundaries between the Act and regulatory systems that already manage the same risk,
• Cut compliance costs by reducing notification requirements to the regulator to only significant workplace events (deaths, serious injury, illness and incidents),
• Help end the proliferation of road cones by providing a hotline for the public to report overzealous road cone use, and for WorkSafe to confirm and provide guidance on instances of over-compliance.

I’ve travelled across the country to hear health and safety concerns, and at nearly every meeting, someone raised the issue of sea of road-cones. I am directing WorkSafe to confirm and provide guidance on instances of road cones overcompliance. Having WorkSafe focus on this will be a culture shift for the agency, but it signifies the broader direction this Government is taking with the health and safety system.

“These changes are just the start of the Government’s reform programme. I will be seeking Cabinet decisions in the coming months that will further improve WorkSafe and address sector-specific pain points.

“Workers can be assured that their employers will prioritise the right actions to protect them from harm, and they know where their attention should be to keep themselves and their workmates safe.”

Notes:

Further information on these changes: FACT SHEET

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