Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
Plain-English Answers

A Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking — any person or organisation that runs a business, whether for profit or not. This includes companies, sole traders, partnerships, charities, and government bodies. Most employers are PCBUs.

A PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers who work for them (including employees, contractors, and subcontractors) and that other people aren't put at risk by their work. This duty cannot be transferred or contracted away.

It means weighing the likelihood of harm, the severity if it occurs, what the PCBU knows or should know about the risk, availability of control measures, and the cost of those controls. Cost alone is not a reason to ignore a known risk.

Category 1 (reckless conduct): individual up to $300,000 or 5 years imprisonment; PCBU up to $3,000,000. Category 2 (failure to comply, risk of death/serious injury): individual up to $150,000; PCBU up to $1,500,000. Officers face the same individual penalties.

Yes. Under section 83, a worker may cease or refuse work if they believe on reasonable grounds that it would expose them or any other person to a serious risk from an immediate or imminent hazard. You must notify your employer. Under section 84, your employer cannot penalise you for doing this.

The PCBU must ensure workers have adequate information, training, instruction, and supervision to carry out work safely. This includes induction training, task-specific training, and supervision for inexperienced workers.

Yes. PCBUs must consult workers on matters that will or are likely to affect their health and safety — including identifying hazards, making risk decisions, and proposing workplace changes. Workers have a right to participate through Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs).

Any of: (a) death of a person from work; (b) notifiable injury — immediate hospitalisation, amputation, serious head/eye injury, serious burn, spinal injury, degloving, or loss of bodily function; (c) notifiable incident — unplanned event that exposes a person to serious risk (near miss).

Call WorkSafe NZ immediately on 0800 030 040 (24/7). Notification must happen as soon as you are aware the event occurred. A written notification may also be required.

Yes. The PCBU must ensure the site is not disturbed until a WorkSafe inspector arrives or gives written permission. The only exceptions are: assisting injured people, making the site safe for others, or preventing further harm.

Failure to notify is an offence. Maximum penalties: individual $10,000; body corporate (PCBU) $50,000.