The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act 2026 has received Royal assent. The changes are now law, but they do not take effect until 1 April 2027. This gives New Zealand businesses time to understand the new requirements and prepare.
The central change is a clearer focus on critical risks. These are risks connected with hazards listed in the Act, or hazards that could cause death, a notifiable injury or illness, a notifiable incident, or a listed occupational disease if an accident or incident occurs. This can include harm to mental health where it is connected with a hazard. The test is about the likely outcome if something goes wrong—not how likely the event itself is to happen.
What does this mean for small businesses?
The Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) is New Zealand’s main workplace health and safety law. It requires a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU)—in plain English, a business or organisation—to manage risks arising from its work. A small PCBU has fewer than 20 workers for at least nine months of a financial year.
From 1 April 2027, small PCBUs will have proportionate duties: key requirements, including specified training, supervision and personal protective equipment (PPE) duties, will apply in relation to critical risks. Workplace welfare requirements—including suitable facilities, hygiene, lighting, rest and first aid—will continue according to their terms.
Small PCBUs must also prioritise critical risks across their wider health and safety obligations. In practice, this means:
managing critical risks before other risks;
monitoring, reviewing, and revising controls relating to critical risks more often than controls relating to other risks; and
applying a higher proportion of risk management resources to the management of critical risks compared with other risks.
What about larger businesses?
Large PCBUs—those that are not small PCBUs—must continue to manage all work health and safety risks. The difference is that critical risks must be given priority when deciding what to manage first, how often controls are reviewed, and where resources are allocated.
Other important changes
Senior decision-makers: duties for people such as company directors, business owners, partners, board members and chief executives are clarified to focus on governance. They must understand the business’s risks and relevant health and safety matters, ensure suitable resources and processes are available, and verify that the business is using them. These governance duties are separate from any duties they may also have as workers.
Working with other PCBUs: large PCBUs must co-operate on shared duties, while small PCBUs must do so in relation to critical risks. Businesses can agree to co-operate more broadly.
Approved codes of practice: an approved code of practice (ACOP) sets a recognised standard for meeting particular health and safety duties. Following an applicable ACOP is not mandatory, but it can demonstrate that the relevant HSWA obligations have been met. Industry groups, unions, worker representatives, employer organisations and sector representatives will be able to develop draft ACOPs for WorkSafe review and potential Ministerial approval.
Overlap with other laws: where another Act—such as the Building Act, Maritime Transport Act or Land Transport Act—manages the same health and safety risk, complying with that requirement may also satisfy the equivalent HSWA duty. Any specific health and safety regulations will still apply.
Notifiable injuries and illnesses: additional examples have been added to make reporting expectations clearer.
Recreational land use: landowners will generally no longer have health and safety duties to people using their land for recreation, unless the recreational activity is connected with the business’s work or work is happening in the same place at the same time.
What should businesses do now?
There is no need to wait until April 2027. Start by confirming whether your organisation is a small or large PCBU, reviewing the hazards connected with your work, and identifying which risks meet the new critical-risk definition. Check that your controls, review schedules, incident information and resources reflect the seriousness of those risks.
It is also a good time to review governance reporting and due-diligence processes for senior decision-makers, shared-duty arrangements with contractors or other PCBUs, and any approved codes of practice relevant to your work. WorkSafe is preparing further guidance and resources ahead of implementation.
We’re here to help
At Safety Managed, we’re keeping a close eye on the supporting guidance and what the changes mean in practice for New Zealand businesses. We’ll continue sharing straightforward updates and practical tips as the commencement date approaches.
If you would like help identifying your critical risks, reviewing your current systems, or preparing your business for 1 April 2027, please get in touch with Safety Managed. We’re here to help. Always keep up to date with current Health and Safety legislation at https://www.worksafe.govt.nz/. Find their take on it here.