The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) is New Zealand's workplace health and safety law. It sets out the principles, duties and rights in relation to workplace health and safety.
If you have no paid workers
If your Playgroup is made up of volunteers and does not employ any person to carry out work, then it meets the definition of a volunteer association, and you or your Playgroup have no duties under the HSWA.
If you do have paid workers
If your Playgroup directly employs a person or persons to carry out work then your Playgroup is considered to be a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) under the HSWA.
If a person working at your Playgroup is employed by an umbrella organisation, then both the umbrella organisation and your Playgroup are considered to be a PCBU.
Under the HSWA, a PCBU must look after the health and safety of its workers. The Playgroup is also responsible for the health and safety of other people while they are at the Playgroup including children, parents, visitors or the general public.
Under the HSWA, Playgroup leaders are responsible for ensuring that the Playgroup is meeting its health and safety responsibilities. They must make sure the Playgroup understands and manages its key risks.
We have developed a guide for early learning services to help you understand and meet the requirements of the HSWA.
We have also developed a modifiable PowerPoint presentation with speaking notes to help you and your community understand the requirements of the HSWA.
We are reviewing the certification criteria to ensure consistency with the requirements of the HSWA. Any criteria changes will be notified in a future Bulletin.
If you have any questions about the HSWA you can email healthandsafety.info@education.govt.nz.