Notification of hazardous works

Are you aware of when you need to notify WorkSafe NZ of your particular hazardous excavation works?

Conducting any of the following excavation works will mean you’ll need to complete this WorkSafe NZ online notification form:

• Work in any drive, excavation, or heading, in which any person is required to work with a ground cover overhead
• Work in any excavation in which any face has a vertical height of more than 5 metres and an average slope steeper than a ratio of 1 horizontal to 2 vertical
• Work in any pit, shaft, trench, or other excavation in which any person is required to work in a space more than 1.5 metres deep and having a depth greater than the horizontal width at the top

It is expected that at least 24 hours notice is given prior to commencing such excavation works.

Notifying WorkSafe of your intended works allows them to gather statistics on the number of high-risk works going on around the country, and plan their use of resources to promote the prevention of harm.

Make sure you complete a Task Analysis for your high-risk works, you can access Task Analysis Templates from the Templates tab in your Hub. This will help you to identify the hazards, and the controls needed to minimise the risk to not only those involved in the works but all those working on the site.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your particular hazardous works please feel free to call our Advisory team on 0800 555 339, extension 4.