Workplace Health and Safety Legislation
What is it?
By law, PCBU’s in New Zealand have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their workers.
The General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations require and expect:
- PCBU’s to carry out exposure monitoring to identify if workers are exposed to a hazard at harmful levels or to ensure the control measures in place are working. For example monitoring the noise level or the air a worker breathes to check how much of a substance they are being exposed to.
- PCBU’s have a primary duty to ensure appropriate health monitoring of workers is undertaken where a particular health risk warrants this.
PCBU’s and their workers have the best knowledge about the specific risks arising from their work. They are best placed to provide solutions about how to manage those risks.
What does it affect?
Pre-employment screenings can be done for by any employer. Industries that typically do pre-employment screenings are:
- Manufacturing
- Construction
- Motoring
Choosing an occupational health provider
Health and Safety providers are not currently regulated in New Zealand, this means that anyone can claim to be an Occupational Health and Safety professional.
When looking for an occupational health provider, we recommend checking for the following:
- Affiliation/s with professional bodies (such as New Zealand Occupational Health Nurses Association)
- Health or other qualifications to graduate level of relevance to the health and safety industry
- Specific experience in the health and safety industry
- Recommendations/testimonials from other clients
Further resources
Morre information is on the Ministry Business Innovation and Employment webpage: https://www.worksafe.govt.nz
Unsure about your legislative obligations?
Get in touch today and we can help you to meet your legislative obligations as an employer. We customise our services so you only pay for what is required.