Service

Health & safety

Advising you on all aspects of health and safety legislation

Changes to the health and safety legislation are placing more responsibility across all levels of an organisation as well as its contractors.

We’ve successfully advised some of New Zealand’s largest businesses on their health and safety (H&S) obligations and issues. Our expertise includes a significant number of high profile H&S cases involving serious harm and workplace fatalities and advising some of New Zealand’s highest profile coronial inquests. We also have experience across industries where employees work in potentially high risk environments such as construction, aviation, manufacturing, forestry, mining, maritime, tourism ventures, farming and port companies.

Our team works across all sectors of the economy, advising employers on:

  • obligations under the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015 (and its predecessor)
  • H&S investigations and prosecutions, both directly and through insurers
  • responsibilities for assisting employees during pandemics
  • obligations for providing employees and contractors with adequate resources and training to mitigate mental health and wellbeing issues.
  • Advising Eastland Port on an investigation by WorkSafe after a fatality of a stevedore worker.
  • Acting for Anthenberry Holdings Limited in the first defended case under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
  • Representing OceanaGold New Zealand in the first successful appeal in the High Court under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
  • Assisting an extensive range of corporate and industrial clients on H&S investigations and prosecutions, including Safe Air, specialising in aviation maintenance and repair, in relation to an employee killed while servicing an aircraft engine.
  • Acting for Niagra Sawmilling Company and Tasman Tanning in arguing two of the first three sentence appeals under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, before full bench of the High Court.