Changes to health and safety legislation are increasing responsibilities across all levels of an organisation, including its contractors.
We have successfully advised some of New Zealand’s largest businesses (both public and private) on their health and safety obligations and issues. Our expertise encompasses numerous high-profile cases involving serious harm, workplace fatalities, and advising some of New Zealand’s most notable coronial inquests. We also have experience across various industries where employees work in potentially high-risk environments such as construction, aviation, manufacturing, forestry, mining, maritime, tourism, farming and port companies.
Our team provides comprehensive health and safety advice and training to boards, leadership teams and employers across all sectors of the economy, including:
- obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, including officers’ due diligence
- investigations and prosecutions, both directly and through insurers
- obligations to provide adequate resources and training to mitigate mental health and wellbeing issues
- advice on overlapping duties
- implementing drug and alcohol testing regimes
- obligations on physical sites, including maintenance, security, and staff safety
- developing strategies to avoid accidents
- Represented Whangārei Boys High School during the WorkSafe investigation and prosecution following the Abbey Caves disaster, where a student tragically drowned on a school caving trip. This included advising on media requests, communications with the community, and handling numerous Official Information Act requests.
- Represented Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group during the WorkSafe investigation into the Whakaari eruption.
- Represented Eastland Port in relation to a WorkSafe investigation into a fatal accident that occurred within a tenant’s leased area on the port site.
- Represented a major public health department in relation to a WorkSafe investigation into the release of a contaminant which caused multiple individuals to become ill.
- Advised various organisations on health and safety obligations, including:
- Project Alliance Board and participants on alliance health and safety responsibilities.
- Major projects on health and safety provisions in contracts and overlapping duties.
- Fonterra on earthquake-prone buildings.
- A major New Zealand bank on site maintenance, security, and staff safety.
- Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation on investment-related health and safety responsibilities.
- Represented Melville High School in a WorkSafe investigation and prosecution related to a student's death on a school trip, negotiating an enforceable undertaking as an alternative to prosecution.
- Currently representing Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group in a coronial inquiry into deaths from Cyclone Gabrielle.
- Conducted independent workplace investigations for major New Zealand companies on bullying, harassment, and misconduct allegations.
