In some ways a WorksafeNZ inspector has more powers than the NZPolice. They don’t need a court-ordered warrant to enter your business premises, inspect your work vehicle or look at your business records.
Recently, a Manawatu dairy farmer discovered 4,000 reasons why he shouldn’t prevent Worksafe inspectors from entering his property. See Business owner fined for obstructing WorkSafe inspector.
What Happened?
It all happened in 2018 when Palmerston North inspectors were trying to meet with farmers to discuss the changes to hazardous substance management. Inspectors tried to visit Daniel Sproul’s farm on multiple occasions and he wasn’t having a bar of it.
Sproull had his day in court and was sentenced under section 176 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. He could have been given a maximum fine of $10,000, but walked away with a $4,000 fine and a lawyer’s bill.
What do you do when Worksafe comes to visit?
Over the years I’ve heard of people facing the classic lizard brain (amygdala) hijacking and going into flight (off to the portaloo), fight (like Mr Sproull) or freeze mode.
There are a few simple things that you can get your team to do to help them calm down and manage the situation.
- Give the inspector a business card with your contact details on
- Take the inspector to sign In, technically they don’t need to sign in; however, they will check out who is signed in to be on site.
- Let the Site/ Project Manager know
- Walkabout and introduce people by name
- Ask for feedback: What can we do to improve?
What sort of ‘Notices’ can a WorksafeNZ Inspector give you?
A Worksafe ‘Notice’ is a bit like a speeding ticket. You’ve been caught breaking the rules and you need to address the issue/s raised. You can question and clarify the notice at a later date; however, that takes time and will cost you while your team sits there with their tools down.
Here is a list of types of notices you can be given (copied straight from the Worksafe website):
- Improvement notices – requiring changes to be made to improve a risky situation, within a certain time period.
- Infringement notices – requiring the responsible party to pay a fine for breaching specified health and safety obligations.
- Prohibition notices – requiring activities that pose a serious risk to people’s health and safety to be stopped immediately until the problem is resolved.
- Non-disturbance notices – requiring a worksite to remain undisturbed for a set amount of time, if a notifiable event has happened (eg if a worker has been killed or seriously injured).
How you respond to one of these notices is a different blog entirely.
If you have any thoughts on what to do when WorksafeNZ comes to visit or questions call me on 0272 007 680 or email sarah@employmenow.co.nz.
Stay safe,
SB