As winter creeps closer, WorkSafe New Zealand is reminding businesses to take heed of the risks when workers are operating at height.

WorkSafe has created new guidance to help adventure activity operators and outdoor recreation providers manage risks from natural hazards such as flooding, landslips, and snowfall.

This safety alert highlights the serious health and safety risks for workers when using safety net systems that may not have been tested to a recognised standard by an accredited testing body.

Basic machine safety failures culminated in the death of a worker at one of New Zealand’s biggest fertiliser companies where obvious risks were overlooked, WorkSafe says.

Solid ethics and legal compliance must underpin the asbestos industry, WorkSafe New Zealand says, after an unlicensed asbestos remover was sentenced for pocketing more than $20,000 by misrepresenting his employer.

WorkSafe New Zealand has opened its first intake of health and safety inspectors for 2025, and is keen to hear from anyone with an interest in making workplaces safer in Aotearoa.

This technical bulletin provides guidance about the work trainee divers may undertake while under direct supervision during occupational diving operations.

A forestry subcontractor was failed by poor risk management from the two businesses above him, both of which have been sentenced for their inaction.

Read our latest high hazards newsletter where we’re covering industry alerts on floating roof tank corrosion and critical fastener material selection, what we’re seeing with RPE and machine guarding failures, and a reminder to think about your lock out/tag out system.

From April there will be a new way of doing a SafePlus self-assessment.

Old equipment repurposed by businesses must be safe to use, WorkSafe New Zealand says, following sentencing of a Rotorua company whose modified crane became a weapon that changed the life of a teenage contractor.

Check out the latest guidance and resources, and a number of upcoming courses and conferences to help you ensure a healthy and safe work environment for you and your workers.

WorkSafe New Zealand is calling on farmers to consider how vehicles move inside their barns and sheds, following a sentencing for an horrific death at one of South Canterbury’s biggest agribusinesses.

WorkSafe has developed infographics on psychosocial risks in the high-risk sectors of agriculture, construction, forestry, and manufacturing, as well as psychosocial risks that affect all New Zealand workers.

WorkSafe welcomes Corey Sinclair as its new Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate. Corey started with WorkSafe on Wednesday 22 January.

AI technology with real time hazard alerts is central to a new safety commitment WorkSafe New Zealand has accepted from the well-known household brand, Ecostore.

Businesses that use scissor lifts should take a fresh look at safety, after a worker fell from height and died over the holiday period.

Welcome to the latest edition of Kanohi Kitea, our health and safety representatives (HSR) e-newsletter.

Our inspector Thomas recently worked with a panel beater in Hamilton to make improvements to their health and safety processes.

WorkSafe is urging businesses to prioritise safety near overhead electric lines, after three companies were sentenced within the last week for incidents that killed or injured workers.

After working with industry, we’ve set a number of new REIs for pesticides. These will come into force on 10 June 2025 to give PCBUs and suppliers time to adapt to the new REIs.

WorkSafe New Zealand is moving forward with organisational changes to deliver its strategy.

Read about the updated timeframe for revoking 2001 notices, retaining access to gas and electrical certificates, and preventing the fatal risk of ovens tipping over.

Leptospirosis is the most common work-related infectious disease in New Zealand. See our updated guidance for practical suggestions to manage the risks to protect people from getting sick.

Including an update from the Chief Inspector, recent electric shock incidents, and a new resource for warehouses.

This Asbestos Awareness Week we sat down with Garrett Davidson, the Operations Manager at The Floor Store Commercial, to talk about how they tackle asbestos.

WorkSafe is again urging the forestry sector to reflect on what more it can do to improve safety, as the details of yet another worker death emerge from a court prosecution.

Read our November 2024 work-related health newsletter

Nine tonnes of badly loaded steel fell and killed a Christchurch man, in what WorkSafe New Zealand says is a stark warning to any business that uses storage racks or shelving as part of its operations.

A WorkSafe investigation is underway into a trench collapse in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank this afternoon.

WorkSafe New Zealand, Mahi Haumaru Aotearoa, will open consultation for kaimahi on its organisational change proposal on 23 October.

WorkSafe has uncovered multiple failures that contributed to a teenager’s death on a school caving trip in Northland last year.

We have updated our guidance on the requirements for vetting workers at limited-attendance child-care centres.

Read our September 2024 work-related health newsletter.

The September issue of Kanohi Kitea, our health and safety representatives (HSR) e-newsletter.

WorkSafe has published priority plans, which will bring to life its new strategy over the next two years. WorkSafe will deliver enforcement, engagement, and permitting activities across these priority areas to maximise our influence and achieve better, more equitable outcomes.

Our September hazardous substances update.

WorkSafe is recommending the dairy industry reassess its use of slide pulsators, following a recent death in a Waikato milking shed.

Photovoltaic (PV) solar systems are a rapidly growing industry in New Zealand, with the installation of both grid-connected and stand-alone systems.  

Read our August 2024 energy safety business update.