Workplace Health and Safety Legislation
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.
If you are looking for a Health and Safety provider, be aware that in New Zealand this industry is currently not regulated and anyone can claim to be an Occupational Health and Safety professional. It is unknown when (or if) it will become law for Occupational Health and Safety providers to be regulated.
More information is on the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment webpage http://www.business.govt.nz/worksafe
To ensure your own peace of mind, when looking for an occupational health provider, look 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
