Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Codes of practice

222 Approval of codes of practice

(1)

The Minister may—

(a)

approve a code of practice developed by the regulator for the purposes of this Act; and

(b)

amend or revoke an approved code of practice.

(2)

The Minister may approve, amend, or revoke a code of practice under subsection (1) only if the Minister is satisfied that the code of practice, amendment, or revocation was developed by a process that involved consultation between—

(a)

unions; and

(b)

employer organisations; and

(c)

other persons or representatives of other persons affected, or reasonably likely to be affected, by the code, amendment, or revocation.

(3)

A code of practice may incorporate, adopt, or apply (with or without modification) all or any part of any other document that is prepared or issued by any person or body, and that is in force at a particular time.

(4)

However, an approved code of practice may not, without the approval of—

(a)

the relevant Minister,—

(i)

adopt with modification any documents previously approved by a Minister of the Crown; or

(ii)

approve any amendment of any part of a code of practice that comprises a document approved by a Minister of the Crown; or

(b)

the Minister responsible for the administration of the Building Act 2004,—

(i)

adopt an acceptable solution or verification method (or both) issued under section 22(1) of that Act; or

(ii)

approve any amendment of any part of a code of practice that comprises a document approved by that Minister.

(5)

The following may be approved by the Minister without carrying out the consultation required by subsection (2):

(a)

a code of practice that corresponds, or substantially corresponds, to a code of practice made under section 20 of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992:

(b)

any minor or technical amendments to an approved code of practice (including the incorporation of amendments to, or updates of, documents incorporated by reference).

(6)

If the Minister approves any amendment in accordance with subsection (5)(b), the regulator must make reasonable efforts to notify any affected persons or their representatives of the amendment.

(7)

A code of practice approved under this section is neither a disallowable instrument nor a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2012 and does not have to be presented to the House of Representatives under section 41 of that Act.

Compare: 1992 No 96 s 20; Model Work Health and Safety Act (Aust) s 274(1)–(3)