Safety cases must be submitted to WorkSafe by a permit operator of a relevant production installation or a drilling contractor for a non-production installation. Find out further details on how to submit a safety case below.

Legal basis for fees

Regulation 23(2) of the Health and Safety at Work (Petroleum Exploration and Extraction) Regulations 2016 require safety case submissions to be given to WorkSafe, together with the prescribed fee,-

1. at least 90 days before the date on which the permit operator or drilling contractor (as the case may be) intends to commence operating the installation; or
2. by any later date specified by WorkSafe in writing.

Regulations 31, 32 and 33 cover revisions of safety cases, and also require submissions with a prescribed fee.

View the following Regulations on the NZ Legislation website:

Regulation 23(2)(external link)

Regulation 31(external link)

Regulation 32(external link)

Regulation 33(external link)

The prescribed fees for original submissions and revisions are set out in Schedule 10 of the Regulations.

Schedule 10 of the Regulations(external link)

Any submission is not complete until the prescribed fee has been received, and the relevant timescale for assessment will not begin until both the documentation and the fee has been received.

Procedure for payment

Well in advance of the intended submission date; inform the HHU Petroleum team of the intended submission giving the title of the document, and your document reference number. You should also indicate which Schedule 9 fee you believe applies for that submission.

You will then be invoiced by WorkSafe to pay the prescribed fee (including GST).

Procedure for submission

When submitting a new, amended or revised safety case, please complete the safety case concordance form and include it when submitting the safety case to indicate where the relevant information is located:

Please send documentary submissions on digital media (USB Memory stick, CD/DVD etc.) in searchable PDF format, and two hard copies to the following address:

High Hazard Unit
WorkSafe New Zealand
Level 2, 214 Devon Street East,
PO Box 342,
New Plymouth 4340

For the attention of: HHU Administrator

We will only accept submissions via file sharing service, for example Dropbox, if the files can be downloaded into our systems in an unencrypted format. We still require two hard copies.

Quick guide: Revision of a safety case

This quick guide provides advice and information for operators of upper tier major hazard facilities or petroleum installations who are reviewing and revising a safety case. It summarises when and how to revise a safety case, and what WorkSafe is looking for in a revised safety case.