March 2024 The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 imposes legal obligations on everyone conducting business or undertakings to ensure a safe workplace. Sport or recreation organisations should be aware these obligations also apply to them regardless of whether the activity is for profit and even if they are mostly volunteers. The Act imposes… Read More.

November 2021 For New Zealand employers, 2021 has been a year like no other. New Zealand enjoyed almost a year of freedom after the March 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, before the emergence of the Delta variant and widespread community transmission which has resulted in some new and significant issues for New Zealand employers and employees to… Read More.

March 2021 There can be no doubt that all employers have a duty to provide conditions of employment that allow people to be, and stay, healthy. However, there is no cut and dried demarcation when it comes to the question of whether an employer can make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for its employees. This is… Read More.

September 2019 Trespass notices are sometimes used by schools to deal with difficult or disruptive parents or persistent complainants. However, trespass notices against parents should only be used as a last resort when it is really necessary and ordinary warning letters have failed. Although the school has an obligation to ensure the safety and well-being… Read More.

June 2019 The much heralded Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 has been in force for several years now. When it was enacted it was claimed that it would bring in a new era enhancing the safety of New Zealand’s workers. It was often difficult to see how the new legislation differed significantly from… Read More.

November 2017 The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (‘HSWA’) came into effect on 4 April 2016. It took until 22 August 2017 for the first sentencing decision of the District Court to emerge, WorkSafe New Zealand v Budget Plastics (New Zealand) Ltd [2017] NZDC 17395. The second, WorkSafe New Zealand v Rangiora Carpets… Read More.

March 2017 The problem for sufferers of occupational overuse syndrome is that from both a medical and legal perspective, it is difficult to differentiate between psychological and physiological pain. Pain is a subjective issue. At one end of occupational overuse syndrome, there will be clear evidence of a sprain or strain involved with carpal tunnel… Read More.

November 2016 Introduction The law governing health and safety obligations in New Zealand was recently updated with the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (‘the Act’). This Act imposes legal obligations on people conducting any business activity in New Zealand. All New Zealand businesses should be updating their practices and procedures… Read More.