Date Announced For The New Health & Safety Law: 4 April 2016

Monday August 31, 2015 14:22

The new Health & Safety Law – When Does it Come Into Effect?
Late last week the Health and Safety Reform Bill was passed by Parliament.  This was reported widely, including on the Worksafe NZ website.

The new Act will come into effect on 4 April 2016.

What happens next?
The new law will be called the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The Act itself has just been published on the New Zealand Legislation website.

Until the new Act comes into effect in April 2016, the current Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 remains in force.

What 5 things can you do now?
Between now and when the new law comes into effect on 4 April 2016, Securo will provide supporting information to help you get ready.

In the meantime here are 5 things you can do now:

1. Familiarise yourself with the key concepts of the legislation
   • Attending an informative workshop which Securo is running in Auckland & Christchurch will assist with informing you about the Act and giving guidance on implementing a “Best Practice” Health & Safety system
2. Review your health and safety practices
   • How often are you reviewing your hazard register, training matrix, HSNO systems etc?
3. Identify health and safety risks in your business 
   • And take steps to prevent these from causing harm
4. Lead by example, by communicating the company’s health & safety policy and procedures
   • Then ensuring you reinforce these by personally following them
5. Make health and safety part of your workplace culture

To assist you, we will forward more information, as we move closer to 4 April 2016.