Following the review of WorkSafe New Zealand’s performance of its regulatory functions in relation to activities on Whakaari White Island, WorkSafe has continued to strengthen its administration of the Health and Safety at Work (Adventure Activities) Regulations 2016 (the Regulations).

Independent review of WorkSafe in relation to Whakaari/White Island(external link)

This has included addressing the specific recommendations of the review, improvements suggested by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE)’s targeted review of the adventure activities regulatory regime(external link), WorkSafe’s adventure activities regulatory health check [PDF, 82 KB] and other internal WorkSafe reviews.

Since the previous update in October 2021 WorkSafe has worked to help strengthen the way the Adventure Activities regime operates, including when activities take place in naturally hazardous environments.  WorkSafe has:

• Reviewed and revised the New Zealand Adventure Activities Certification Scheme. Version 4.1 of the scheme was issued on 31 August 2023 and came into full effect on 1 April 2024. The Scheme sets out requirements for how safety auditors plan and conduct audits of adventure activity operators.
• Worked with MBIE on amendments to the Regulations that address suggested improvements from their targeted review of the Adventure Activities regulatory regime. These amendments were consulted on with industry and the amended Regulations came into effect on 1 April 2024.
• Reviewed and revised the Safety Audit Standard for Adventure Activities. Final release of version 2.0 of the Standard occurred on 31 August 2023 after the amendments to the Regulations were finalised by MBIE. This Standard sets out the requirements with which adventure activity operators must comply to reduce risks to health and safety when providing adventure activities.
• Developed a suite of operational policies and procedures for dealing with various aspects of our duties as both the regulator and registrar for adventure activities.
• Started to work with industry (through Recreation Aotearoa and Tourism Industry Aotearoa) to identify which specific new adventure activities guidelines are most valuable.