Reprint as at 1 August 2008

Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992

Public Act	1992 No 96
Date of assent	27 October 1992

Note

Changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in this eprint.

A general outline of these changes is set out in the notes at the end of this eprint, together with other explanatory material about this eprint.

This Act is administered in the Department of Labour.

Title

1 Short Title and commencement

Part 1
Preliminary

2 Interpretation

2A All practicable steps

3 Application of Act to the Crown

3A Application of Act to aircraft

3B Application of Act to ships

3C Application of certain provisions to volunteers doing regular work

3D Protections for other volunteers

3E Application of Act to persons receiving on the job training or gaining work experience

3F Application of Act to loaned employees

4 Act not to affect other legislation

5 Object of Act

Part 2
Duties relating to health and safety in employment

General duties of employers

6 Employers to ensure safety of employees

Duties of employers in relation to hazard management

7 Identification of hazards

8 Significant hazards to employees to be eliminated if practicable

9 Significant hazards to employees to be isolated where elimination impracticable

10 Significant hazards to employees to be minimised, and employees to be protected, where elimination and isolation impracticable

Duties of employers in relation to information

11 Employees to be given results of monitoring

12 Information for employees generally and health and safety representatives

Duties of employers in relation to training and supervision

13 Training and supervision

14 Employers to involve employees in development of health and safety procedures [Repealed]

Other duties

15 Duties of employers to people who are not employees

16 Duties of persons who control places of work

17 Duties of self-employed people

18 Duties of principals

18A Duties of persons selling or supplying plant for use in place of work

19 Duties of employees

Part 2A
Employee participation

19A Purpose of Part 2A

19B General duty to involve employees in health and safety matters

19C Development of employee participation system

19D Provisions that apply if employer and employees fail to develop system for employee participation

19E Training of health and safety representatives

19F Calculation of maximum total number of days' paid leave for health and safety training

19G Minister may approve occupational health and safety training

19H System for employee participation in Armed Forces

19I Meaning of employee in sections 19C(1) and 19F(1)

22 Application of regulations

23 Other provisions relating to regulations

24 Saving of regulations made under certain repealed enactments

Part 4
General provisions

Accidents

25 Recording and notification of accidents and serious harm

25A Transfer of accident information

26 No interference at accident scene

27 Inquiry into cause of accident

28 Coroner may call for report on fatal accident

Right of employees to refuse to perform work likely to cause serious harm

28A Employees may refuse to perform work likely to cause serious harm

Enforcement by other agencies

28B Enforcement by other agencies

Inspectors

29 Inspectors

30 Functions of inspectors

31 Powers of entry and inspection

32 Inspectors to prove identity

33 Powers to take samples and other objects and things

Departmental medical practitioners

34 Appointment of departmental medical practitioners

35 Powers of entry and inspection of departmental medical practitioners

36 Departmental medical practitioners may require medical examinations of employees

37 Departmental medical practitioners may suspend employees in certain cases

38 Administrative provisions

Improvement and prohibition notices

39 Inspectors may issue improvement notices

40 How improvement notices to be given

41 Inspectors may issue prohibition notices

42 Service of prohibition notices

43 Compliance with prohibition notices

44 How notices to be addressed

45 Matters may be completed by different inspectors

Appeals

46 Appeals against notices

Hazard notices

46A Trained health and safety representatives may issue hazard notices

Duties in respect of inspectors

47 Duty of assistance

48 Obstruction, etc

Offences and penalties

49 Offences likely to cause serious harm

50 Other offences

51 Actions taken to prevent harm

51A Sentencing criteria

52 Failure to comply with section 14 [Repealed]

53 Proof of intention not required

54 Notification to Secretary of interest in knowing of enforcement action taken by inspector

54A Laying information

54B Time limit for laying information

54C Extension of time for person other than inspector to lay information

54D Extension of time if inspector needs longer to decide whether to lay information

54E Continuing or repeated matters

55 Other provisions relating to offences

56 Offences by bodies corporate or Crown organisations

Infringement offences

56A Infringement offences

56B Infringement notices

56C Prior warning of infringement offence

56D Inspector may require information

56E Procedural requirements for infringement notices

56F Infringement fees

56G Payment of infringement fee

56H Effect of infringement notice

Insurance against fines unlawful and of no effect

56I Insurance against fines unlawful and of no effect

Proof of notices

57 Proof of notices

Personation of inspectors

58 Personation of inspectors

Funding of administration

59 Funding

Information provided by Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation

60 Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation may provide information [Repealed]

Non-compliance with other enactments

61 Inspectors to notify local authority

Amendments, repeals, revocations, and savings

62 Consequential amendments, repeals, revocations, and savings

Schedule 1
Serious harm

Schedule 1A
Employee participation system

Schedule 2
Consequential amendments

Schedule 3
Enactments repealed

Schedule 4
Orders in Council and notices revoked

Reprint notes

An Act to reform the law relating to the health and safety of employees, and other people at work or affected by the work of other people

BE IT ENACTED by the Parliament of New Zealand as follows:

New Zealand Legislation: Acts

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