The biggest shake-up since the HSWA — but it is not law yet
The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill, introduced on 9 February 2026, is the most significant reform of New Zealand's health and safety law since the HSWA was passed in 2015. It would refocus the law on critical risks, create a new small PCBU category (fewer than 20 workers) whose duties under some provisions narrow to those critical risks, clarify officer due diligence, make approved codes of practice a safe harbour, and shift WorkSafe toward a more advisory role. It is a Bill before Parliament — not yet law. Until it is enacted, the current HSWA 2015 duties apply in full.
Important: everything on this page describes proposed changes in a Bill that is still before Parliament. The details can change as it is debated, and nothing here is in force yet. Until the Bill is passed and commences, your duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 are unchanged. Always check WorkSafe and the New Zealand Parliament website for the current status.
The Amendment Bill follows the Government's review of the work health and safety system, led by the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety. It would amend the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, the WorkSafe New Zealand Act 2013, and the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations 2016. The stated aims are to reduce unnecessary compliance costs, give businesses more certainty about what they must do, and keep reducing serious harm — by shifting the system away from trying to manage every conceivable risk and toward preventing the things most likely to kill or seriously hurt people.
The Bill would define critical risk in law for the first time. A critical risk is a risk associated with a hazard on a new list (Schedule 1A of high-risk activities and substances), or any hazard likely to result in death, a notifiable injury or illness, or a notifiable incident. The Bill changes the purpose of the Act to prioritise these critical risks — a deliberate move from “consider all risks” to “prevent serious harm first”.
The most talked-about change is a new category of PCBU — the small PCBU, a business with fewer than 20 workers (for at least nine of the 12 months of the year). On the numbers, the great majority of New Zealand businesses would qualify. For a small PCBU, the duties under certain provisions would narrow to apply only in relation to critical risks.
Read this carefully: narrowing is not removal. A small PCBU would still have the overarching duty to ensure health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable, and would still have to provide adequate facilities. Treating “small PCBU” as “we can stop worrying about most risks” would be a serious misreading — and a real source of liability.
If your business has 20 or more workers, the duty to manage all risks would remain. What is new is an express requirement to prioritise critical risks — addressing them first, reviewing and monitoring their controls more often than other risks, and directing a higher share of your health and safety effort and resources towards them.
| Area | What the Bill proposes |
|---|---|
| Officer due diligence | An officer's due-diligence duty would be confined to their governance role (not other things they do as a worker), with a reorganised definition that requires an up-to-date understanding of the business's hazards and risks. |
| Codes of practice | Complying with an approved code of practice (ACOP) would act as a “safe harbour” — evidence the duty holder has met its obligation for that risk — and non-regulators would be able to submit draft codes to the regulator. |
| WorkSafe's role | WorkSafe's main function would shift toward being advisory and educative, helping businesses manage their critical risks (this also applies to Maritime NZ and the Civil Aviation Authority as designated regulators). |
| Notifications & land | The Bill adds clarity on which events must be notified to WorkSafe, and on the duties of PCBUs who manage or control land. |
The Bill passed its first reading in February 2026, public submissions closed in March 2026, and the Education and Workforce Committee was due to report back around the middle of 2026. It is widely expected to be passed before the late-2026 general election, and would come into force the day after Royal assent. None of that has happened yet. The sensible steps now: keep meeting your full HSWA 2015 duties as they stand; identify which of your risks are genuinely critical so you are ready to prioritise them; and watch for the final Act before changing anything. Do not wind back your health and safety on the strength of a Bill that is not yet law — if it is enacted in a different form, or you misjudge what “critical” covers, the exposure is yours.
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It is a Government Bill, introduced on 9 February 2026, that proposes the most significant changes to New Zealand's health and safety law since the HSWA in 2015. It would refocus the law on critical risks, create a small PCBU category, clarify officer due diligence, make codes of practice a safe harbour, and make WorkSafe's role more advisory.
No. The Bill is still going through Parliament and is not yet law. Until it is passed and commences, all of your current Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 duties continue to apply in full. The details may also change as the Bill is debated.
Under the Bill it is a risk associated with a hazard on a defined list (a new Schedule 1A of high-risk activities and substances), or any hazard likely to result in death, a notifiable injury or illness, or a notifiable incident. The reform would have businesses prioritise these risks above others.
A small PCBU would be a business with fewer than 20 workers for at least nine of the 12 months of the year. Their duties under certain provisions would narrow to apply only to critical risks — but they would still have the overarching duty to ensure health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable, and still have to provide adequate facilities.
Keep meeting your current HSWA duties in full, work out which of your risks are genuinely critical so you can prioritise them, and watch for the final Act before changing anything. Don't reduce your health and safety based on a Bill that is not yet law.
