Labour is promising to create a corporate manslaughter offence and reverse the Government’s recent health and safety reforms, putting workplace deaths and corporate accountability firmly onto the Election 2026 agenda.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins announced the commitments at E tū’s election campaign launch, alongside pledges to restore Fair Pay Agreements and pay equity and extend the Living Wage.
The Government’s Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act 2026 passed Parliament in June and received Royal assent on July 8. The Government says the reforms are designed to reduce unnecessary compliance costs, provide greater certainty for businesses and focus the system on critical workplace risks.
One of the most significant changes affects businesses with fewer than 20 workers, which now have reduced obligations for risks outside those defined as critical. The legislation also provides for approved industry codes of practice.
Labour opposed the legislation, arguing it weakens worker protections. The law passed its third reading with National, ACT and New Zealand First supporting it, while Labour, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and two independent MPs voted against.
Hipkins is now promising a Labour Government would reverse those changes and introduce a specific corporate manslaughter offence, allowing companies to face criminal liability where serious organisational failures result in a worker’s death.
E tū says such legislation has been sought by unions since the Pike River Mine disaster, where 29 men died in 2010.
Gold miner and E tū industry council convenor Mark Anderson says workers in high-risk industries such as mining understand how quickly workplace failures can become fatal, and stronger accountability is needed when corporate decisions contribute to deaths.
E tū has made reversing the 2026 health and safety changes one of its election priorities, alongside stronger employment protections and changes to workplace law.
The debate now puts a fundamental workplace question before voters: when serious corporate failures contribute to somebody dying at work, should the company itself be capable of facing a manslaughter charge?
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