Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Introduction

The issues of health and safety are continuously increasing in the workplaces of New Zealand. The government is very much concerned of the health and safety provided to the people. This is the reason why there are different health and safety acts and regulations on providing the safety at work. The main purpose of this paper is to throw a light on the Health and safety procedures and the legislations for health and safety. The paper highlights on the Health and Safety Act and the different accidents and financer for bearing the cost of these accidents. The paper also discusses the cost of injuries to a construction firm in terms of lost hours.

History of Health and Safety Act New Zealand

Health and safety had been a serious issue in all the countries. Just like the other countries, New Zealand is also paying a great concentration on the health and safety issues since a long time. In 1992, the issue of health and safety had been brought into serious consideration and an act had been passed with the name of “The Health and Safety at Employment Act 1992”. The Health and Safety at Employment Act 1992 had been passed with the use of general principles regarding the health and safety law of New Zealand (Brown, 2005). This act is also comprised of different regulations in which some refers to all the industries of New Zealand and some are applicable on only few industries of New Zealand. These regulations are based on the types of premises and other issues related to health and safety. As per the Health and safety at Employment act 1992, an employer is responsible for providing the health and safety measures to its employees and in case of failure, the employer is eligible for the prosecution. It is the right of the workers that they should be provided with the safe working environment by their employers.

As per this act, it is the responsibility of the employer to assure the workers that the health and safety measures are provided to them and the risks of suffering stress at work is very minimal. For this purpose it is necessary that the employers should conduct a risk assessment and consult the safety representatives so that the proper safety measures should be provided to the workers.

Health and Safety Acts & Legislations

In terms of providing the health and safety measures to the people at work, the New Zealand government has passed different acts and legislations. These acts and legislations mainly refer to the health and safety policies and procedures to be implemented by the companies so that the workers could work in a safe environment (Glendon, 1995). Given below are the basic health and safety acts which have been introduced by the government of New Zealand:

Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Act 2002

Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Act 2002 is basically the modified act of 1992. Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Act 2002 mainly refers to ...