{"id":203260,"date":"2021-03-05T17:16:57","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T04:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/?p=203260"},"modified":"2021-03-10T10:49:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T21:49:55","slug":"penalties-health-safety-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment\/penalties-health-safety-work\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are The Penalties For Breaching The Health And Safety At Work Act In NZ?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">New Zealand law <\/span>takes health and safety very seriously<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The potential penalties for any person or business that breaches the Health and Safety at Work Act (the Act) are considerable. Particularly in the event of death or serious injury, the penalties can include significant jail time and massive financial penalties. There are also other non-financial penalties that can be significant, and additional penalties able to be imposed. This article will set out:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">who can bring proceedings for a breach of the Act;<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the potential penalties in the event of death or serious injury; and&nbsp;<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">non-financial penalties to be aware of.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Consequences of Breaching Health and Safety Provisions<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment\/what-is-worksafe\/\">WorkSafe<\/a><\/span> is <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">New Zealand\u2019s health and safety regulator. It is the primary organisation that brings proceedings against: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">businesses; and<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">any other person or organisation that breaches the Act.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, others can also bring proceedings depending on the circumstances of the health and safety breach. The limitation period differs depending on who is seeking to bring the matter to court<\/span>. This is the time period in which proceedings can be brought and include that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">proceedings sought by WorkSafe (<\/span>or another designated authority) <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">must be brought within 12 months of the date of the incident. <\/span>O<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">r, within six months of a coronial report; and<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">private prosecutions bought by a person may be brought up to two years after the incident.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Potential Penalties For Death Or Serious Injury<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The potential penalties in the event of death or serious injury are very serious. These penalties would only be issued by a court during sentencing. <\/span>I<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">n other words, they cannot be unilaterally imposed by WorkSafe. WorkSafe must bring a case to a court of law. The penalties differ depending on who has actually breached the Act. Maximum penalties include:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a fine of an amount up to $150,000 for an individual who is not a person conducting a business or undertaking (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment\/pcbu\/\"><b>PCBU<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">)<\/span>;<\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a fine of an amount up to $300,000 for an individual who is a PCBU or an officer of a PCBU; or<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a fine of an amount up to $1.5 million for any other person or companies.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"box box--info box--icon\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Note that businesses are PCBUs, and so are typically liable for the more serious penalties.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The penalties become more serious if the breach of health and safety law involve reckless conduct. If a court agrees that there has been reckless conduct resulting in the risk of death or serious injury, the maximum penalties increase to:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a term of imprisonment up to five years, or a fine of an amount up to $300,000 (or both) for an individual who is not a PCBU;<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine of an amount up to $600,000 (or both) for an individual who is a PCBU or an officer of a PCBU;<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a fine of an amount up to $3 million for any other person\/companies.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n<a href=\"#content-next\"\n   class=\"block p-4 mt-10 text-xl font-bold text-center text-white no-underline bg-gray-800 rounded-t-xl\">\n    Continue reading this article below the form\n    <i class=\"text-xl 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These can include:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">adverse publicity orders, requiring the person or company who breached the Act to publicise in a particular manner the offence, its consequences, and the penalty imposed;<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">restoration orders, requiring the person or company to take certain specific steps to ameliorate any matter caused by the offence;<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">project orders, requiring the person or company to undertake a specific project for the general improvement of health and safety in their workplace; or<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">court-ordered enforceable undertakings, which adjourn the proceeding for up to two years during which period the person or company undertakes to comply with certain conditions.<\/span><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The penalties for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act in New Zealand are significant. Depending on the context of the breach and the severity of the conduct involved, particularly if that conduct is reckless, maximum penalties can include significant financial penalties and up to five years of imprisonment. There can also be non-financial penalties, like requiring certain changes to a business so they improve health and safety practices. If you want to know more about health and safety or the penalties imposed for breaching health and safety law, contact <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment-lawyers-lp\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">LegalVision\u2019s employment lawyers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on 0800 005 570 or complete the form on this page.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1614916662397\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Who can bring proceedings against a company for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Anyone can bring proceedings against a company for breaching their health and safety obligations depending on their circumstances, but WorkSafe &#8211; New Zealand\u2019s health and safety regulator &#8211; is responsible for most cases relating to breaches of the Act.\u00a0<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1614916649858\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Can you go to jail for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Yes, penalties for severe breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act can include an imprisonment sentence of up to five years.\u00a0<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1614916644189\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>What are the financial penalties for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">The possible financial penalties can range widely and depend on the seriousness of the breach. They can be anywhere up to $3 million dollars for extremely serious and reckless breaches.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n<div class=\"not-prose m-feedback-prompt\">\n    <!-- Thumbs up\/down bar -->\n    <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__main\">\n        <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__title\">Was this article helpful?<\/div>\n        <div>\n            <!--span class=\"m-feedback-prompt__button--text\">Thanks!<\/span-->\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"m-feedback-prompt__button m-feedback-prompt__button--yes\"\n                    data-analytics-link=\"feedback-prompt:yes\" aria-label=\"Agree\">\n                <i class=\"fa-regular fa-thumbs-up fa-3x\"><\/i>\n            <\/button>\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"m-feedback-prompt__button m-feedback-prompt__button--no\"\n                    data-analytics-link=\"feedback-prompt:no\" aria-label=\"Disagree\">\n                <i class=\"fa-regular fa-thumbs-down fa-3x\"><\/i>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Feedback form -->\n    <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form\">\n        <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form--thanks \">\n            <div>Thanks!<\/div>\n            <p>\n                We appreciate your feedback \u2013 your submission has been successfully received.            <\/p>\n        <\/div>\n        <form id=\"contact-form\" class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form--form\" action=\"\" method=\"post\">\n            <input type=\"hidden\" id=\"authenticity_token\" name=\"authenticity_token\" value=\"5d238358bb\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203260\" \/>            <input value=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment\/penalties-health-safety-work\/\" type=\"hidden\" name=\"currenturl\"\n                   id=\"currenturl\">\n            <input value=\"What Are The Penalties For Breaching The Health And Safety At Work Act In NZ?\" type=\"hidden\" name=\"currenttitle\"\n                   id=\"currenttitle\">\n            <label>\n                <!-- display on thumbs-up -->\n                <span class=\"m-feedback-prompt__feedback m-feedback-prompt__feedback--yes\">\n                    Can you tell us <span class=\"font-semibold\">why<\/span> you found it helpful?\n                <\/span>\n\n                <!-- display on thumbs-down -->\n                <span class=\"m-feedback-prompt__feedback m-feedback-prompt__feedback--no text-lg\">\n                    How can we better improve this article?\n                <\/span>\n                <textarea name=\"feedbackmessage\" id=\"feedbackmessage\" required><\/textarea>\n            <\/label>\n\n            <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form--error\" id=\"form-submit-error\"><\/div>\n            <button id=\"submit-contact-form-button\" type=\"submit\" name=\"commit\" class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form--submit\"\n                    data-analytics-link=\"feedback-prompt:submit\">\n                Submit            <\/button>\n        <\/form>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Zealand law takes health and safety very seriously. The potential penalties for any person or business that breaches the Health and Safety at Work Act (the Act) are considerable. Particularly in the event of death or serious injury, the penalties can include significant jail time and massive financial penalties. There are also other non-financial<a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment\/penalties-health-safety-work\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;What Are The Penalties For Breaching The Health And Safety At Work Act In NZ?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13235,"featured_media":201686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25,116,478,654],"class_list":["post-203260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employment","tag-small-business","tag-health-and-safety","tag-worksafe","tag-health-and-safety-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Penalties For Breaching The Health And Safety At Work Act | LegalVision<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you run a business, you need to understand the consequences of breaching the NZ Health and Safety at Work Act. 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Matt previously worked as an employment lawyer in a top-tier firm in New Zealand, and now works at the University of Auckland as a Research Fellow in the Faculty of Law.","sameAs":["anthony.lieu@legalvision.com.au"],"url":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/author\/mattbartlett\/"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment\/penalties-health-safety-work\/#faq-question-1614916662397","name":"Who can bring proceedings against a company for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Anyone can bring proceedings against a company for breaching their health and safety obligations depending on their circumstances, but WorkSafe - New Zealand\u2019s health and safety regulator - is responsible for most cases relating to breaches of the Act.\u00a0","inLanguage":"en-NZ"},"inLanguage":"en-NZ"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment\/penalties-health-safety-work\/#faq-question-1614916649858","name":"Can you go to jail for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, penalties for severe breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act can include an imprisonment sentence of up to five years.\u00a0","inLanguage":"en-NZ"},"inLanguage":"en-NZ"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment\/penalties-health-safety-work\/#faq-question-1614916644189","name":"What are the financial penalties for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The possible financial penalties can range widely and depend on the seriousness of the breach. They can be anywhere up to $3 million dollars for extremely serious and reckless breaches.\u00a0\u00a0","inLanguage":"en-NZ"},"inLanguage":"en-NZ"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/13235"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203260"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203402,"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203260\/revisions\/203402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/201686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}