New Zealand’s latest health and safety reforms are facing criticism from workplace safety professionals, who warn the changes could increase compliance costs and create greater confusion for businesses despite the Government’s goal of reducing red tape.
The concerns come after the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill was passed under urgency in Parliament, accelerating one of the most significant overhauls of workplace health and safety law since the Health and Safety at Work Act came into force in 2015.
The Government says the reforms are intended to provide greater certainty for employers, reduce unnecessary compliance burdens and sharpen the focus on managing “critical risks” that are most likely to result in death, serious injury or occupational illness. Proposed changes also include new Approved Codes of Practice, clearer responsibilities for company directors, reduced notification requirements and exemptions for some small, low-risk businesses from broader health and safety duties.
However, the New Zealand Institute of Safety Management (NZISM) argues the legislation may have the opposite effect.
The organisation says businesses will still need to determine whether hazards qualify as “critical risks”, a process it believes could require additional legal interpretation, documentation and expert advice. Rather than simplifying compliance, NZISM says the new framework risks creating uncertainty for employers trying to understand their obligations.
Safety professionals have also raised concerns that limiting health and safety obligations for smaller businesses could shift attention away from lower-level hazards that collectively account for a large proportion of workplace injuries and ACC claims. While many of these incidents are not fatal, they can still have significant consequences for workers, whānau and employers.
The Government maintains the reforms are designed to ensure businesses spend more time managing serious workplace risks rather than completing unnecessary paperwork. Ministers argue the current system has encouraged excessive compliance activity that does not always improve safety outcomes and has imposed unnecessary costs on employers.
The reforms are part of a broader programme to modernise New Zealand’s workplace health and safety framework while supporting economic growth and improving regulatory certainty.
For Māori, the debate carries particular significance. Māori workers remain overrepresented in higher-risk industries such as construction, forestry, agriculture, manufacturing and transport, where workplace injuries and fatalities continue to occur at disproportionately high rates. Any changes to health and safety law therefore have the potential to directly affect Māori workers, whānau and communities.
As businesses begin preparing for the new framework, attention is likely to focus on whether the reforms deliver the promised balance between reducing compliance costs and maintaining strong protections for workers.
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