Health and safety reform
The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 is now nearly 10 years old. The Government committed to reforming New Zealand’s health and safety laws and regulations in the ACT – National Coalition Agreement.
A range of legislative, operational, and regulatory changes will be made to transform performance across the system.
These changes will ensure businesses know what to do to comply with the laws and regulations.
Read the Minister’s announcement - Going for growth: cutting health and safety red tape(external link) — beehive.govt.nz
About the work health and safety regulatory system
What is a regulatory system?
Regulation isn’t just about the law. Parliament passes laws, but to achieve Parliament’s intended outcomes, government agencies and other organisations need to deliver services and make sure people follow the rules. The laws, rules, agencies, organisations, and their practices are collectively known as a ‘regulatory system’.
The work health and safety regulatory system is made up of the:
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
- supporting regulations, safe work instruments, standards, approved codes of practice, and guidance that sit under the HSW Act
- regulators that implement the law and support people to comply through engagement, enforcement, and standard setting
- people and organisations authorised by the regulator or regulations to certify or licence businesses for high-risk work and activities.
Diagram: The Work Health and Safety Regulatory System
Text description of infographic
The infographic shows the key components of the work health and safety regulatory system. In the centre is a diagram showing the duty holders. On the left-hand side is a pyramid diagram showing the different elements of work health and safety law. On the right-hand side is a diagram showing parties with regulatory functions. An arrow is pointing from the law diagram to the duty holders diagram, and from the regulatory functions diagram to the duty holders diagram. This shows the centrality of duty holders in the regulatory system.
Law
The key components of the law are shown in a pyramid with 5 levels. Starting at the top of the pyramid and going down each level, the components are:
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Health and Safety at Work Act
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Regulations
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Safe work instruments
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Approved codes of practice
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Guidance, standards, and information
The diagram shows that the Health and Safety at Work Act, regulations, and safe work instruments are mandatory.
The diagram also shows that the approved codes of practice and guidance, standards, and information can be used in court as evidence of compliance.
The purpose of the Health and Safety at Work Act is below the pyramid: To provide for a balanced framework to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces.
Duty holders
The diagram consists of 4 squares. Starting at the top left and going clockwise, the content of the squares is:
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PCBU (eg business or organisation)
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Workers (employees, volunteers)
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Others at a workplace (eg visitors)
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Officers (eg director or chief executive)
Regulatory functions
This diagram contains the parties with regulatory functions. From top to bottom, they are:
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Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
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Regulators:
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WorkSafe New Zealand
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Civil Aviation Authority
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Maritime New Zealand
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Third parties (eg compliance certifiers, inspection bodies)]
About the consultation
In June 2024, MBIE supported the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety to undertake substantial consultation on work health and safety with a roadshow across the regions and a discussion document and submission form on the MBIE website. The point of the consultation was to ask New Zealanders about what’s working well and what needs to change.
The consultation ended on 31 October 2024, with over 1000 people having their say. A major theme of the feedback was that as it stands, businesses don’t know what they need to do to manage risks and meet their health and safety duties.
Objectives of the reform
The Minister for Workplace Relations has identified the following main objectives of the reform:
- focus the work health and safety system on critical risks
- reduce unnecessary costs for businesses, especially small businesses
- improve outcomes for businesses, workers and all New Zealanders, and
- increase business certainty about what to do to comply.
Timing of the reform
These objectives will be achieved through a range of legislative, operational and regulatory changes to transform performance across the system.
- The first phase of this work is to sharpen the purpose of the Health and Safety at Work Act to manage critical risks and clarify the boundaries of the Act.
- The second phase is to make legislative and operational improvements to increase businesses certainty and public confidence in WorkSafe.
- The third phase is to work on a regulatory relief package to address sector specific pain points.
The Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety will seek Cabinet decisions on further issues in the coming months.
People will have the opportunity to have their say on the changes during the Select Committee process.
Background documents
Published: 3 Jun 2025
Cabinet paper recommending a series of changes to the expectations placed on WorkSafe and the organisation’s operational focus.
File
PDF, 497KB, 14 pages
Published: 3 Jun 2025
Cabinet agreed to a series of changes to the expectations placed on WorkSafe and the organisation’s operational focus.
Published: 5 Jul 2024
Cabinet paper seeking approval to consult on areas for work health and safety reform.
File
PDF, 1.3MB, 10 pages
Published: 5 Jul 2024
Cabinet approval to consult on areas for work health and safety reform.
Published: 14 Jun 2024
Seeking feedback on the purpose and performance of the work health and safety regulatory system.
File
PDF, 939KB, 14 pages
Last updated: 03 June 2025