{"id":255,"date":"2023-06-20T01:25:57","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T01:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hazardco.com\/nz\/?p=255"},"modified":"2024-08-21T22:07:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T22:07:16","slug":"hs-law-change-to-help-keep-workers-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hazardco.com\/nz\/blog\/hs-law-change-to-help-keep-workers-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"H&amp;S Law Changes to help keep workers safe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Health and Safety at Work (Health and Safety Representatives and Committees) Amendment Bill has recently been passed. These changes increase workers\u2019 access to health and safety representatives, and health and safety committees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) are a well-established example of worker participation and can also support worker engagement. HSRs provide workers with a formal, visible way to have a say in work health and safety.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>These H&amp;S law changes mean that:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If a worker asks for a health and safety representative, the business must initiate an election. Previously, smaller businesses in sectors that were not prescribed high-risk could decline these requests.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If a health and safety representative of 5 or more workers asks for a health and safety committee, the business must establish one. Previously, a business could refuse a request to establish a committee where the business is satisfied existing practices sufficiently meet the requirements.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Act does not make H&amp;S representatives or committees mandatory for businesses. But it is a requirement to have worker participation practices so workers are engaged with health and safety. Businesses will only be required to initiate an election for representatives or establish a committee when they are requested by workers.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>If you do have workers wanting to be HSR\u2019s or start a committee then:\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA), a business must support its workers in their role as Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>HSWA requires businesses to support HSRs by:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Facilitating elections.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Consulting with the HSR.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Giving feedback on any recommendations made by HSRs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Providing information (not personal information unless consent is given).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Providing time and resources for the HSR role.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Providing paid leave to attend training, and pay training fees and costs of attending training.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our H&amp;S Training partners <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.besafetraining.nz\/event?id=9769\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">BeSafe <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.safetynaction.co.nz\/en\/our-courses\/course-catalogue\/health-and-safety-representative-initial\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Safety n Action<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have H&amp;S Representative courses available to help you navigate these requirements. As a HazardCo member, you get access to a 10% discount on all courses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It could be a good time to run a toolbox talk with your workers and ask if they want to be a HSR or start a committee. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hazardco.com\/nz\/contact-us\">Give us a call<\/a> on 0800 555 339 if you have any questions about HSRs or Committees. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Health and Safety at Work (Health and Safety Representatives and Committees) Amendment Bill has recently been passed. These changes increase workers\u2019 access to health and safety representatives, and health and safety committees. Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) are a well-established example of worker participation and can also support worker engagement. HSRs provide workers with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[12,11],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-en-nz","tag-builders","tag-safety"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>H&amp;S Law Changes to help keep workers safe - HazardCo NZ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill has been passed. 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