1. Working Safer The building of a new regulatory regime September 2014 Bronwyn Turley and Susan Adams MBIE Policy

2. Legislation Problems  Duty holders don’t know how to comply  Duties do not reflect changes in working arrangements  Directors do not have clear health and safety obligations  Gaps in coverage  Compliance and enforcement tools not sufficiently flexible  Penalties not providing sufficient incentive to comply Solutions:  New legislation based on Australian Model Act  More guidance  “PCBUs” and workers  Due diligence duty on officers of PCBUs (directors etc)  “So far as is reasonably practicable”  More explicit duties for designers, suppliers etc  More enforcement tools  Higher penalties Solutions:  New legislation based on Australian Model Act  More guidance  “PCBUs” and workers  Due diligence duty on officers of PCBUs (directors etc)  “So far as is reasonably practicable”  More explicit duties for designers, suppliers etc  More enforcement tools  Higher penalties

3. Health and Safety Reform Bill Introduced to Parliament in March 2014 Referred to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee for consideration Select Committee is hearing oral submissions on the Bill

4. Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) Usually a business entity Business or undertaking? – Business is an enterprise usually conducted with a view to making a profit and having a degree of organisation, systems and continuity – Undertaking may have some degree of organisation, systems and continuity, but usually not profit-making or commercial in nature

5. Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU): Exclusions Householders – householder that engages or employs someone solely to do residential work on or in their home Volunteer associations - a group of volunteers: – Working together for a community purpose, and – On a voluntary basis, and – Don’t employ any staff

6. Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU): Duty A PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of: – workers employed or engaged or caused to be employed or engaged by the PCBU and – workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the PCBU, while the workers are carrying out the work A PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking.

7. Duty to consult other duty holders PCBUs should consult, co-operate and co-ordinate activities to meet their shared responsibilities – Capacity to influence or control – What is reasonably practicable Can’t contract out of duties, but can make reasonable arrangements to coordinate responsibilities Monitor to ensure doing what’s been agreed Overlapping duties

8. Officers, workers & others Officers required to exercise due diligence to ensure that the PCBU complies with its duties Workers and others in the workplace also required to take a reasonable degree of responsibility for their own health and safety, and that of others

9. Volunteers under the Bill Volunteer association is not a PCBU under the Bill, and will owe no duties Volunteer – only a worker if they work for a PCBU Volunteer officers of a PCBU – Owe the due diligence duty but not an offence where they fail to meet that duty

10. Upstream duty holders

11. Worker participation: The problem …the Taskforce found that worker participation in NZ is too often ineffective and often virtually absent Our legislation is less rigorous than overseas jurisdictions and excludes non- employees

12. Worker participation: Proposed requirements All workers may refuse to do unsafe work All workers have protections from adverse conduct All workers may refuse to do unsafe work All workers have protections from adverse conduct All PCBUs must engage with workers on health and safety matters Workers or PCBUs may choose to have Health and Safety representatives (HSRs) Workers or PCBUs may choose to have Health and Safety committees (HSCs) Workers or PCBUs may choose to have Health and Safety committees (HSCs) All PCBUs must have effective worker participation practices PCBU may develop its own worker participation practices that meet the two duties above Further detail about requirements are proposed to sit at the regulation level

13. Enforcement and penalties Range of enforcement tools, enforceable undertakings new, and others improved (infringement notices) Wider range of options available to the Court when sentencing (adverse publicity orders, training orders, project orders etc) Tiered offence regime with graduated penalties

14. Development of regulations to support the new Act Discussion document containing policy proposals about the first phase of regulations – General risk and workplace management – Worker participation and representation – Work involving hazardous substances – Major hazard facilities – Work involving asbestos Guidance/ACoP development process (WorkSafe NZ) will shadow this process

15. Further information www.mbie.govt.nz Workplace Health and Safety Reform www.legislation.govt.nz Health and Safety Reform Bill www.parliament.nz Health and Safety Reform Bill Currently before Select Committee