GasNZ submits on workplace safety amendment Bill

26 March 2026

With the aim of clarifying requirements and simplifying compliance, particularly for smaller businesses, the Health & Safety in the Workplace Amendment 2026 Bill closed for submissions recently.

GasNZ’s submission said while GasNZ and its members supported these aims, it was concerned that “some of the measures proposed will not achieve those aims – and indeed might achieve the opposite”.

The submission noted that the gas sector depends on the reliably safe use of inherently dangerous goods. “The health and safety of our workers, and those interacting with our products and services, is in our DNA.”

GasNZ supported improvements proposed to the Approved Codes of Practice (ACOP) regime; “However, developing, approving and maintaining ACOPs will depend on Worksafe’s active and effective participation in the process: unless that participation is properly funded, the intended outcomes will not be achieved”.

But GasNZ did not supportthe proposal to introduce a two-tier system with small businesses required to focus only on “critical risks”. 

“This undercuts the universal harm-reduction the premise of the HSWA, and introduces unworkable uncertainties, especially when considering overlapping duties in other safety legislation.

“It will increase costs for many businesses.

“It will mean that two workers exposed to exactly the same risks in different workplaces receive different protection from harm, based only on the size of their workplace.

“Workers who begin work in a smaller business will have to re-learn the applicable safety standards when they move to a larger business.

“In the gas sector, many specialist contractors are used.  Small contractors may be cut out of contracting, unless they can prove that they meet the principal’s higher standards – because the duties the principal’s officers must discharge are unchanged.

“This is likely to increase the contractor’s compliance costs, not reduce them.”