New Zealand law stories
Cross-party backing is being sought to deliver a planning overhaul that could cut compliance costs by 45% while balancing development and environmental protection.
A lack of risk checks on a small forestry site left a subcontractor exposed to lethal hazards, costing two firms GBP £335,680 in penalties.
The Rotorua contractor needed facial reconstruction after a modified crane struck him with a 412-kilogram beam that should not have been used.
New Zealand employers can face wider safety duties than many realise, covering mental health, training, equipment and worker accommodation.
New Zealand’s 545,000 small businesses could gain cheaper chemical compliance if ministers revive industry codes of practice, the sector says.
WorkSafe says stronger checks are needed after three firms were fined and ordered to pay reparations over powerline incidents that killed or injured workers.
WorkSafe says forestry firms must tighten site checks after a 23-year-old was killed by a log that rolled 325 metres at Tangoio.
One worker was seriously injured and another moderately hurt, prompting a WorkSafe probe into an Auckland trench collapse.
Courts are widening health and safety duties to cover consultants whose advice can put workers and the public at risk.
WorkSafe has fined and ordered reparations after a faulty roller door installation killed a pastor at an Auckland church.
WorkSafe has backed a half-million-dollar safety overhaul after a kiwifruit worker lost a leg in a forklift incident.
Employers may now have to do more to protect staff from online abuse after a court found a university breached health and safety duties.
WorkSafe says apprentices remain exposed to deadly risks unless employers improve supervision and repair procedures after a second fatal sentencing this year.
A fatal electric shock could have been avoided if mandatory testing had been done after faulty wiring left a range hood metalwork energised.
Consumers are being urged to stop using Serene bathroom heaters after safety failures linked to fires and overheating widened the recall.
A lack of traffic controls at Trade Depot's Onehunga site left a customer with an amputated leg, prompting almost USD $500,000 in penalties.
A teenage apprentice’s death has prompted fines and reparations after WorkSafe said two firms failed to manage the risk of heavy framing.
A Nelson court fined Stratford Logging operator Kevin Howard Stratford NZD $56,000 after unsafe felling beside State Highway 60 endangered motorists.
Worksafe has fined R&L Drainage NZD $275,000 after a worker was nearly buried alive in a Te Kuiti trench collapse.
A boy suffered serious injuries after wandering into the path of an underage forklift driver at an orchard that was fined NZD $7,000.
