Hazardous Substance Regulations: New Duties for Employers
About the Authors:
Tim Clarke
Partner at Bell Gully
Tim Clarke is a partner within the Bell Gully employment practice and is an experienced litigator, specialising in resolving employment issues and commercial disputes.
Renee Yoon
Solicitor at Bell Gully
Renee Yoon is a solicitor in Bell Gully’s employment law team. She advises clients on employment and health and safety issues.
Natasha Garvan
Senior Associate at Bell Gully
Natasha Garvan is a senior associate at Bell Gully. She provides environmental, policy and resource management advice to infrastructure providers, commercial entities, property and land developers.
Mike Campbell
Solicitor at Bell Gully
Mike Campbell is a solicitor in Bell Gully’s environmental and resource management law team, providing advice to a wide range of public and private sector clients.
New regulations came into force in December, 2017, with specific duties applying to persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) with "management or control" of a workplace, transit depot, or a hazardous substance location.
Under New Zealand's health and safety regime, it is possible for multiple PCBUs (e.g. a landlord and a tenant) to have "management or control" of a workplace.
In these circumstances, all PCBUs will be required to meet their obligations under the 2017
Regulations to the extent they can influence or control matters at the workplace.
The specific duties which apply to PCBUs with "management or control" of a workplace include:
maintaining an inventory of hazardous substances at the workplace that includes the name, quantity, location, storage requirements of each hazardous substance, and any hazardous waste,
obtaining and making available to workers, current safety data sheets for hazardous substances,
ensuring that containers of hazardous substances are properly labelled,
displaying signage in the workplace for certain quantities of hazardous substances,
ensuring hazardous substances are in appropriate containers or packaging, and
where specific quantities of hazardous substances are present, ensuring there are sufficient fire extinguishers and preparing a workplace emergency response plan.
PCBUs must also review and change any controls which have been put in place in relation to hazardous substances at the workplace if: there is a significant change to information about a hazardous substance; a notifiable event occurs involving a hazardous substance; or at least once every five years. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in a fine of up to NZ$50,000 for a business.
Extract from article that can be found HERE.
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