Skip Links
Skip to Main Content
  • About us
  • News and media
  • Data centre
  • Publications and resources
  • Contact us
Login Notify WorkSafe
Login Notify WorkSafe
  • A to Z topics and industries
  • A to Z topics and industries
    • Priority industries

    • Agriculture
    • Construction
    • Forestry
    • Manufacturing
    • View all industries
    • Popular topics

    • Asbestos
    • Bullying
    • Dust
    • Electricity
    • Excavation
    • Fatigue
    • Gas
    • Hazardous substances
    • Health and exposure monitoring
    • Machinery
    • Working at height
    • View all topics
  • Managing health and safety
  • Managing health and safety
    • Getting started
    • Managing risks
    • Businesses
    • Consumers
    • Workers
    • What to expect from a WorkSafe assessment
    • Health and safety representatives
    • Health and safety committees
    • Resolving workplace health and safety issues
  • Notifications
  • Notifications
    • Notify us of an injury, illness or incident
    • What events need to be notified?
    • Notify us of a major hazard facility
    • Notify us of your interest in knowing an enforcement action
    • Road cone digital hotline
    • Report an unsafe or unhealthy work situation

    • Raise a health or safety concern
    • Raise a mentally healthy work concern
    • Electricity or gas event notification
    • Installation fault notice
    • Make a protected disclosure
    • View all
    • Report scheduled or completed work

    • Particular hazardous work
    • Licensed asbestos removal
    • Commissioning of hazardous substance location or transit depot
    • Mining, quarrying and tunnelling notifications
    • Geothermal consents and reports
    • View all
  • Research
  • Research
    • Work health and safety: An overview of harm and risk in Aotearoa New Zealand 2024
    • Work-related suicide: Examining the role of work factors in suicide
    • Psychosocial hazards in work environments and effective approaches for managing them
    • A psychosocial survey of healthcare workers
    • Segmentation and insights programme: Employers and workers
    • New Zealand Psychosocial Survey
    • New Zealand Carcinogens Survey 2021
    • View all research
    • Risk factors in the road freight transport industry
    • Dusty work and use of controls among construction workers
  • Laws and regulations
  • Laws and regulations
    • Acts

    • Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
    • Gas Act 1992 and associated Acts
    • Electricity Act 1992
    • Regulations

    • Regulations at a glance
    • Electrical safety regulations
    • Gas regulations
    • Extractives regulations
    • Hazardous substances regulations
    • More laws and regulations

    • Safe Work Instruments
    • Prosecutions
    • Consultations
    • Enforceable undertakings
    • Electricity and gas gazette notices
    • Operational policy framework
    • Electrical and gas codes of practice
  • Tools, registers, and resources
  • Tools, registers, and resources
    • Tools

    • Data centre
    • Hazardous substances calculator
    • Pathways Awarua
    • Pickled!
    • Respirator selection tool
    • Separation distances calculator
    • View all tools
    • Registers

    • Asbestos licence holder register
    • Compliance certifier register
    • Recognised inspection bodies
    • Records of cylinders, fittings and containers for gases under pressure
    • Approved gas appliances practitioner register
    • View all registers
    • Resources

    • Publications and documents
    • Writing health and safety documents for your workplace
    • Case studies
    • Definitions and acronyms
    • What resources are available to help?
    • Health and Safety at Work Act presentation
  • About us
  • News and media
  • Data centre
  • Publications and resources
  • Contact us
Home › A to Z topics and industries › Energy Safety › Audit and enforcement › Enforcement
Audit and enforcement

Enforcement

We have a selection of enforcement tools. These include infringement notices, prohibition notices, urgent instructions, warnings, advisories and prosecutions.

Enforcement

Definition of safe and unsafe

'Safe' and 'unsafe' are defined terms and are not opposites. They are better understood as defined points on a spectrum of risk of harm or damage to property.

Read more

Infringement notices

If an investigation or audit made by us indicates that there is serious non-compliance, or there is a previous history of non-compliance, an infringement notice may be issued. This is accompanied by an infringement fee.

Read more

Offences and prosecutions

We may prosecute rather than issue an infringement notice. This will usually happen when this is considered necessary for deterrent effect or when an infringement notice has not achieved correction of a non-compliance situation. This will be considered on a case by case basis.

Read more

Prohibitions and urgent instructions

If it is determined that a serious safety risk is occurring or could occur, then a prohibition or an urgent instruction may be issued.

Read more

Warnings, advisories, bans and recalls

Warnings, advisories, bans and recalls are different enforcement measures that can be used by us if we believe there is an issue with a product or installation.

Read more
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share by Email
Subscribe

Search

Popular questions

  • What are some of the health and safety risks associated with my industry?
  • Do I need an asbestos management plan?
  • What do you need to think about when managing your workplace hazardous substances?
  • How do I report an unsafe or unhealthy work situation?
  • How can I prevent bullying?

New Zealand's primary work health and safety regulator

Services

  • Online services
  • Notify us of an injury, illness or incident
  • Raise a health or safety concern
  • Electricity or gas notification
  • Subscribe to our newsletters

Contact us

PO Box 165
Wellington 6140
New Zealand



 

Phone: 0800 030 040
Fax: (04) 914 6866

Send us a message

Social media

  • Visit WorkSafe on facebook
  • Visit WorkSafe on twitter
  • Visit WorkSafe on linkedin
  • Visit WorkSafe on instagram
  • Visit WorkSafe on youtube
  • About this site
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Careers
  • © WorkSafe New Zealand

    NZBN: 9429041926437

shielded

Links