Leveraging the Health and Safety at Work Act (2015) for Disaster Risk Reduction

Abstract

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is the practice of reducing disaster risks and includes avoidance or prevention, mitigation actions to reduce impacts and/or vulnerabilities, and strategies to improve preparedness for any adverse effects. The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) is primarily relevant to the mitigation strand of DRR.

The key objective of the HSWA is to give “workers and other persons the highest level of protection against harm to their health, safety, and welfare from work risks as is reasonably practicable”1. The HSWA was enacted in response to the Pike River mining disaster when it was discovered that New Zealand’s health and safety law was not sufficiently robust to hold those in charge accountable for their actions, or lack thereof, in relation to workplace health and safety. This Act has been a radical change to our health and safety law. One of its main purposes is to make those responsible for workplaces more accountable for the health and safety of workers and other people using workspaces. It also establishes the key role of WorkSafe New Zealand
(WorkSafe),1 a government agency, to oversee compliance with the Act.

This project investigates what (if any) influence this new legislation has had on organisational DRR behaviours, examines what organisations are doing to stay safe in our seismically active environment, and what motivates, helps, or hinders organisations implementing earthquake risk reduction efforts.