Managing health and safety

Getting started

HSWA is New Zealand's workplace health and safety law and sets out the principles, duties and rights in relation to health and safety. Regardless of who you are, we want you to understand what it means for you.

Managing risks

How to manage your work health and safety risks, including a framework to help you through the process for identifying, assessing, managing and controlling risks.

Businesses

Stronger worker engagement and participation leads to healthier and safer workplaces. Find out what HSWA means for businesses.

Consumers

Information about staying safe with electricity and gas around your home.

Workers

Everyone who goes to work deserves to come home healthy and safe. You and your workmates are entitled to work in environments where the risks to your health and safety are properly controlled.

Health and Safety Representatives

Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) are a well-established example of worker participation and can also support worker engagement. HSRs provide workers with a formal, visible way to have a say in work health and safety.

Health and Safety Committees

HSCs bring together workers and management in the development and review of health and safety policies and procedures for the workplace.

Workplace inspections

Each year our health and safety inspectors carry out 12,500 workplace assessments. These are proactive, planned visits and are not usually triggered by an incident or health and safety complaint.

Reporting concerns or incidents

If you have a concern about an unsafe or unhealthy work situation, you can raise your concern with us.

Resolving workplace health and safety issues

When attempts to resolve a work health and safety issue have failed, the PCBU, HSR, or worker can ask for WorkSafe's help to resolve the issue.

Request assistance to resolve issues relating to the cessation of work

A worker can stop or refuse to carry out work if they believe that the work is unsafe or would expose them to a serious health and safety risk. Where attempts have been made and have failed to resolve a cessation of work issue, the PCBU, HSR or worker can request WorkSafe to assist.

What resources are available to help?

We produce resources to help people to comply with HSWA and regulations. This page explains the resources available.