Health and Safety in 2015

Posted by Andrew on August 15, 2014

This week we attended the ACC Employers Seminar in Auckland. One of the key topics for discussion was around ensuring that businesses were ready for the changes to Health and Safety legislation on the (near) horizon next year. Thanks to Kensington Swan Lawyers, here is a summary of what businesses should be thinking about:

• You need to know what a PCBU is (Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking) and what PCBU's exist within your business. Refer to Section 5 of the Health and Safety Reform Bill for a (lengthy) definition. Keep in mind that other PCBU's may overlap responsibility with your business.
• Is your business able to identify risk and does it have a risk management process to deal with them?
• Health and Safety will need to consider your contractors as well as employees.
• You need to know if your business has "special obligations" such as managing, controlling, designing, manufacturing or constructing plant, substances or structures.
• There will be new reporting requirements for notifiable injuries, illnesses and events so you will need to have a system in place to record those.
• Employees and contractors need to be consulted about health and safety issues (this should already be occurring).
• The role of company officers in health and safety and their duties and responsibilities has been beefed up - make sure they know what they need to do.

We have found that the EMA have been able to provide guidance as well as the support of an independent Health and Safety professional.