New Zealand’s health and safety law changes: what they mean for your business

Nov 3

3 min read

If managing health and safety has ever felt like a lot of paperwork for relatively minor risks, the upcoming health and safety law changes will be welcome news. The Health and Safety at Work Act has been amended by the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act 2026 to put greater emphasis on workplace risks that could cause serious harm, making it clearer what businesses should prioritise. The new rules take effect on 1 April 2027.

Red first aid kit and yellow hard hat on a wooden crate, with construction workers in hi-vis vests on a building site behind

The changes don’t replace the current law or lower the standard expected of businesses. Instead, they’re designed to make it clearer where your time and effort should go.

Understanding critical risk

The new law is built around critical risks. A critical risk is one that could result in death, a notifiable injury or illness, a notifiable incident, or an occupational disease. Risks from hazards that already have their own specific regulations, such as asbestos and hazardous substances, are automatically treated as critical. The Act’s main purpose has also been updated, so managing critical risks now comes first.

What matters is how serious the outcome would be if something went wrong, not how likely the incident is to happen. A risk that rarely eventuates can still be critical if the consequences would be severe.

For many of our clients, this will make a real difference. An office-based business may find it has very few critical risks, while a landscaping or construction business using heavy machinery will have several. Knowing which group you fall into is the first step.

What do the health and safety law changes mean for your business?

These are dependent on the size of your business:

Small businesses (fewer than 20 workers): Your risk-management duties will centre on critical risks.
Large businesses (20 or more workers): You’ll still need to manage all workplace risks, but critical risks must take the highest priority.

Code of practice will carry more weight

An approved code of practice sets out a recognised way of meeting your health and safety duties for a particular risk. Following one isn’t compulsory. However, from 1 April 2027, if you follow a relevant approved code, you’ll be treated as having met your legal obligations for that risk.

Industry groups and other organisations will also be able to develop their own codes and submit them for approval, so more industry-specific guidance is likely to become available.

Other changes worth knowing

Overlapping rules: If you manage a risk in line with requirements under another law, such as the Building Act or Land Transport Act, you’ll be treated as meeting your health and safety duty for that risk.
Landowners: Landowners will generally no longer have health and safety duties to people using their land for recreation, unless the activity is connected to their work or work is happening at the same time and place.
Directors and officers: Officer duties have been clarified to focus on governance. This means understanding the business’s risks, making sure the business has the right resources and processes in place, and checking that they’re being used.

What should you do now?

Until 1 April 2027, the current rules still apply, so keep following your existing health and safety processes. To prepare for the upcoming changes we recommend:

Check whether you’ll be a small or large business under the new rules.
Work out which parts of your work could cause death or serious harm, and make sure your risk register separates these from lower-level risks.
Research the relevant codes of practice for your industry.

WorkSafe will continue to release guidance and resources in the lead-up to 1 April 2027. Keep an eye on the WorkSafe website for updates.

If you’d like to talk through what the health and safety law changes mean for your business, get in touch with us today.

Last reviewed for accuracy 03 November 2026

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is general in nature and does not constitute personalised tax or professional advice. You should consult with Business Studio before making decisions based on this content.