Tukua mai kia piri, tukua mai kia tata tukua mai kia Mahi Haumaru Aotearoa.  Nō mātou te waimarie mōu kia whai i tēnei ara. Ko te aronga matua o Mahi Haumaru, kia haere ora atu te tangata ki te mahi, kia hoki hauroa mai ki te kāinga. Whakakotahi, Kōrero mai, Tiakina mai.

Our inspectors play a key role influencing work health and safety in Aotearoa. The Inspectorate’s goal is to prevent harm from work, promote a culture of safety, and hold organisations accountable for maintaining healthy and safe working environments.

Watch our health and safety inspector Kyle as he shares what his day can look like:

About the role

As an inspector, no two days will be the same! Inspectors complete a range of work/mahi. This could be a visit to a business; helping businesses, organisations and workers understand their obligations; writing up reports after doing an assessment on a worksite or investigating an incident.

The work is varied and interesting, but at times can be challenging due to the nature of the role as you may be exposed to traumatic events, files, photos and statements, or dealing with people who are impacted by having a worker, colleague or family member injured, or even killed.

Inspectors are expected to work full-time Monday to Friday during normal business hours. Once you’re experienced as a qualified inspector, you will also be on the national on-call roster. Inspectors on the roster may work outside of normal business hours and on weekends.

What we’re looking for from you

You will love building rapport with stakeholders and have a natural ability to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds. The conversations aren’t always easy, but you will remain calm under pressure and be able to appreciate the viewpoints and perspectives of others.

You’ll be great at assessing the information and risks to identify the best outcome. In doing so, you will work towards achieving a common goal of ensuring that all New Zealanders that go to work come home healthy and safe.

A background in health and safety or industry experience in construction, agriculture, forestry, mining, and/or manufacturing would be highly advantageous to working for WorkSafe, but it is not essential. WorkSafe provides our Inspectorate kaimahi with the full training and development that’s required while on the job.

Please ensure that you review and meet the requirements listed on the position description and candidate information pack before applying(external link)

Onboarding and development

Starting as a trainee health and safety inspector you’ll progress through in-house training, gain on the job experience and coaching until you obtain a Certificate of Appointment giving you powers as an inspector. As your career as an inspector continues, you will build your skills and knowledge and progress through an Inspector Pathway.

How we recruit

To ensure we recruit the right people with the right skills at the right time, we follow a structured recruitment process. Intake recruitment is held up to three times a year in various locations across the motu, depending on organisational needs.

With our recruitment timeline, stages need to keep progressing to move smoothly for all candidates to ensure you receive outcomes on dates advised. It is important to complete tasks in in the timeframe provided to not delay the process.

Current recruitment

Applications are open for the health and safety inspector Te Tira Hou/cohort 29. This intake is focused on recruiting for roles based in the following regions working across all priority sectors forestry, construction, manufacturing and agriculture (with travel across the region required):

• Whangarei
• Rotorua
• Tūranganui-a-Kiwa/Gisborne
• Ahuriri/Napier
• Te Whanganui a Tara/Wellington
• Whakatū/Nelson
• Ōtautahi/Christchurch
• Ōtepoti/Dunedin
• Waihōpai/Invercargill

Key dates for this intake

• Kōrero ā-ipurangi/two-way kōrero (video/phone interviews) between 25 June–3 July 2025
• Wānanga ā-ipurangi/online information session on 8 July 2025
• Whakamātau ā-ipurangi/online testing completed by candidates by 9 July 2025
• He arotake ngātahi/in-person kōrero in:
  • Ōtautahi/Christchurch on 21–22 July 2025
  • Te Whanganui a Tara/Wellington on 23 July 2025
• Whāinga wheako/ride along (in-person): 25–29 July 2025
• He taunaki whanonga/pre-employment checks between 25–29 July 2025
• Nau mai ki Mahi Haumaru/offers made between 30 July–1 August 2025
• He timatanga hou/start date on 1 September 2025
• Training begins on 15 September 2025

If you’re unable to meet these key dates, attend the group interview date specified or employment start date, unfortunately we won’t be able to progress with your application. However, you are welcome to apply again in the future.

Upcoming recruitment

We will do one more intake in 2025 – please note this is subject to change. If the current intake dates don’t work for you, please register on our Careers site to receive an email alert when we are recruiting again.

Te Tira Hou/cohort 30 applications open from Monday 6 October to Friday 17 October, likely start date of Monday 26 January 2026.

Register on our Careers website(external link)

How to apply

Visit the job ad at our Careers website to apply:

Apply to be a WorkSafe inspector(external link)

Want to know more?

Contact our recruitment team by emailing newinspector@worksafe.govt.nz if you want to discuss the role or recruitment process – a member of our recruitment team will get back to you as quickly as they can.