Managing Health & Safety Risks in the Workplace
The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) is New Zealand’s workplace health and safety law. Many duties under HSWA apply ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’. It’s an important concept that involves doing what is reasonably able to be done to ensure people’s health and safety under the given circumstances.
Different businesses have different risks – it all depends on the type of work you do.
Ensuring businesses work together for everyone’s health and safety is a fundamental part of HSWA’s design.
Be aware of overlapping duties and responsibilities
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When two or more businesses operate together, for example at the same location or in a contracting arrangement, they must work together to fulfill their primary duties of care.
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Where work overlaps, businesses need to communicate, consult, cooperate and coordinate activities to meet their health and safety responsibilities to workers and others, so far as is reasonably practicable.
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A business cannot contract out its duties. However, reasonable arrangements can be made with the other businesses to fulfill its duty, taking into account the level of influence or control each has over the overlapping work.
Tips
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Plan ahead, think about the stages of your work and who will be affected by it.
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Identify the risks to be managed and together agree how to control those risks and who is best placed to do so.
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Define roles, responsibilities and actions, and explain these to workers and other businesses so they know what to expect.
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Carry out reasonable and proportionate monitoring to ensure health and safety risk management is maintained.
For more information, please visit Worksafe.govt.nz (Health and safety at work – quick reference guide) for resources and guidance.