HSWA is changing: what SMEs need to know

From 1 April 2027, the Health and Safety at Work Act will explicitly prioritise the management of critical risks: the hazards most likely to cause death, serious injury, serious illness or long-term harm.

What is actually changing?

The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) has been amended. Its main purpose will be to provide a balanced framework that prioritises critical risks while protecting workers and workplaces.

The wider foundations of good health and safety remain. Businesses must protect workers and other people from work-related harm, involve workers, provide suitable information and training, comply with the law and keep improving.

What does it mean for a small business?

For these changes, WorkSafe describes a small PCBU as a business or undertaking with fewer than 20 workers. Small PCBUs will need to manage critical risks, including critical risks covered by specific legal provisions, and give those risks priority when meeting their HSWA duties.

A larger PCBU will still need to manage all risks, but must prioritise its critical risks when deciding where to put its people, time and money.

In practice, an SME should be able to answer three straightforward questions:

• What work could kill someone or cause serious or long-term harm?
• What controls must be present every time that work is done?
• How do we know those controls are working in the real workplace?

Examples of critical risks

The answer depends on the work your business performs. Common examples for trades, construction, farms, workshops and small manufacturers may include:

• Falls from roofs, scaffolds, ladders or open edges
• Vehicles or mobile plant striking or crushing a person
• Live electricity and contact with overhead or underground services
• Machinery entanglement or unexpected start-up
• Exposure to asbestos, silica, toxic chemicals, fumes or excessive noise
• Excavation or structural collapse
• Confined spaces, fire, explosion or uncontrolled stored energy

This is not a universal checklist. Your critical risks must come from the work you actually do, including non-routine tasks, maintenance and emergencies.

What if several businesses work together?

Overlapping duties remain important. Where two or more PCBUs share a health and safety duty, they must consult, cooperate and coordinate so far as is reasonably practicable.

WorkSafe says its focus will be on whether a small PCBU has worked with other PCBUs on critical risks, while larger PCBUs will be assessed on coordination across all risks. A principal contractor or larger client may still use agreements requiring a small contractor to coordinate on a wider range of risks.

What does “safe harbour” mean?

From 1 April 2027, relevant actions in newly approved codes of practice (ACOPs) can provide a “safe harbour”. In simple terms, if a business follows the applicable ACOP actions for its role and circumstances, it will be treated as having met the related legal duty.

Safe harbour will apply to ACOPs approved from that date and to the existing forestry and port cargo ACOPs identified by WorkSafe. Other existing ACOPs will not automatically receive safe harbour, but they can still be used as evidence that a business met its duties.

Six practical steps SMEs can take now

1. Identify your serious-harm events. Walk through normal, occasional, maintenance and emergency work with the people who do it.
2. Name the critical controls. Be precise about what prevents the event or reduces its consequences.
3. Assign responsibility. Decide who checks each control and how often.
4. Verify at the workface. Observe the task and inspect the control; do not rely only on a signed form.
5. Coordinate with clients and contractors. Agree who controls each shared critical risk before work begins.
6. Keep useful evidence. Record checks, training, worker input, defects and completed corrective actions.

Keep the system simple and useful

The updated purpose supports a more focused approach, but “less paperwork” should not become “less control”. A short risk register that workers understand and supervisors actively verify is more valuable than a large generic manual sitting on a shelf.

WorkSafe has said further guidance for small PCBUs and critical risks will be released. Businesses should watch for that guidance and review their systems before the changes take effect.

How Auditsure can help

Auditsure helps New Zealand SMEs identify their real critical risks, define workable controls, involve workers and check whether those controls are effective. The result is a practical action plan suited to the size and work of the business—not unnecessary paperwork.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Check the legislation, regulations and current WorkSafe guidance that apply to your work.