18 March 2026 

Forum submission on the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill

The Forum lodged its submission today on the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill to the Select Committee. 

The Bill proposes significant changes to the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) and WorkSafe Act. The Forum's submission is supportive of the Bill's intention to clarify, simplify, and reduce rates of harm. However, we highlight some concerns aroun specific areas of the Bill where the amendments could increase complexity and risks, pushing up rates of harm and associtated costs. 

The submission was developed with and for members - through drop-in sessions, a webinar, survey feedback, direct conversations, and review by a reference group of legal and health and safety experts - before being signed off by the Forum Board. 

A copy of the submission is available to download below, and the Forum intends to make an oral submission to the Select Committee. 

A sincere thank you to the many members who contributed time, insight, and challenge to this work. And to those who made submissions in your own name: your leadership matters enormously. The direct engagement ensures our voice reflects who we are as a coalition - callling issues as we see them, offering solutions (not just problems), and stepping up in support of a safety and more productive New Zealand. 

Download Forum submission here

Forum Submission on Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill Mar 2026 PDF • 384 KB

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An invitation to act for national impact

Speaking constructively to government is one way we play our part. Another is by getting on with the work ourseleves - creating ripples of improvement that extend beyond our own organisation and influence safety and productivity through action, not just position. 

Our 440+ members employ around a quarter of New Zealand's workforce and sit at critical points across infrastructure, delivery, and export supply chains. We are also nationally active and regionally connected. 

At a Forum CEO event on operational excellence in March, Forum Chair Sheridan Broadbent issued a challenge - to the Forum Chief Executive and to 50 member CEOs in the room. If you are willing and able to help drive the changes New Zealand needs to be safer, more skilled, and more productive, we invite you to get in touch - so we can take the next logical step together as a Forum. 

This will require direct engagement from willing members, and a collective investment of time, experience, and courage. 

We have an opportunity, indeed an imperative, to play our part in ensuring New Zealand's future is as safe as it is prosperous. 

 

Supporting materials

Submission focus: Forum member and expert perspectives

To help you understand the Bill, we have pulled together the resources below: 

  • Full webinar recording: Understanding the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill. Watch here

The one-hour video has been divided into chapters, so you can jump to the sections most relevant to you.

  • Written summary of key points about the Bill from our webinar. Download here

  • Written summary of member feedback on the Bill from our drop-in sessions. Download here

  • The Bill. Read here

 

National context: New Zealand's Health and Safety Performance

For more context about why this issue remains crucially important for New Zealand, take a look at these resources:

Related resources