WorkSafe's role
As the regulator of the workplace health and safety system, WorkSafe has three key roles:
Regulatory confidence
- Undertaking regulatory activity to provide confidence that New Zealand workplaces are appropriately managing health and safety
- Enabling New Zealand to have confidence in WorkSafe as the primary health and safety regulator
- Supporting confidence in the effectiveness of the health and safety regulatory regime.
Harm prevention
- Targeting critical risks at all levels (sector and system-wide) using intelligence
- Delivering targeted interventions to address harm drivers (including workforce capability, worker engagement and effective governance)
- Influencing attitudes and behaviour to improve health and safety risk management.
System leadership
- Leading, influencing and leveraging the health and safety system (including other regulators) to improve health and safety outcomes
- Promoting and supporting industry, organisation and worker leadership of health and safety
- Leading by example through WorkSafe's own good practices.
WorkSafe works collaboratively with businesses, undertakings, workers and their representatives to embed and promote good workplace health and safety practices. Some of WorkSafe's functions include:
- Engaging with duty holders (e.g. businesses, undertakings and workers)
- Educating duty holders about their work health and safety responsibilities (e.g. through guidance)
- Enforcing health and safety law.
These responsibilities are defined in legislation, specifically by the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. [4]
History
WorkSafe New Zealand was established in December 2013 after the Work Safe New Zealand Act was passed a month prior, as part of the Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill. The bill was made after a recommendation by a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster, which resulted in 29 deaths. [5] [6]
In 2013, the New Zealand Government and WorkSafe set a target to reduce work-related fatal and serious non-fatal injuries by 25 percent by 2020. Between 2018 and 2020, WorkSafe recorded 179 workplace fatalities. Between 2019 and 2021, there were 178 workplace fatalities. [7]
In October 2020, WorkSafe collaborated with FCB New Zealand to launch an online work safety campaign featuring meerkats. [8]
On 3 June 2025, WorkSafe launched a new road cone online tipline. Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden says this reflects a new shift from "strict enforcement" towards collaboration with businesses and individuals. [9]
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