The Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026 proposes changes to how risks are identified and managed under the Health and Safety at Work Act, with a stated aim of simplifying compliance, particularly for small businesses.
What Is the Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026?
The Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026 proposes changes to how risks are identified and managed under the Health and Safety at Work Act, with the stated aim of simplifying compliance, particularly for small businesses.
At a high level, the Bill signals a shift away from broad, system-based risk management toward a narrower focus on what it describes as “critical risks” - those likely to cause death or notifiable harm.
The Bill has already attracted strong commentary from health and safety professionals, legal experts, and industry groups, with concerns that the proposed changes may create less clarity, not more, in real workplaces.
Why the Health and Safety Reform Bill Is Being Introduced
The health and safety reform bill NZ is being positioned as a response to concerns about:
Administrative burden on small businesses
Perceived over-compliance and paperwork
A desire to “focus on what really matters”
In principle, simplifying health and safety obligations is a reasonable goal. In practice, however, simplification only works when it reduces judgement complexity, not when it shifts that complexity onto businesses with fewer resources, less expertise, and limited access to advice.
That distinction matters.
“Critical Risk Only” – What Does This Mean in Practice?
Under the Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026, businesses may be encouraged to focus only on risks likely to cause death or notifiable harm.
In simple terms, this means organisations will be expected to decide:
What qualifies as a critical risk
What does not
Which risks no longer require systematic management
This sounds straightforward. It is not.
Many serious injuries and illnesses do not begin life as “critical risks”. They develop through:
Routine work
Degraded controls
Cumulative exposure
Normalised deviations
By narrowing the focus, the Bill risks reframing unmanaged harm as acceptable, rather than preventing it upstream.
For SMEs in particular, this creates a difficult judgement call with real consequences.
Does the Health and Safety Reform Bill Actually Simplify Compliance?
The health and safety reform bill reduces prescriptive expectations, but increases reliance on interpretation.
That means:
Less clarity about what “good” looks like
More variation between businesses
Greater dependence on individual judgement
This is not simplification in an operational sense. It is a redistribution of risk assessment responsibility, often to those least equipped to carry it.
As one senior professional noted in early commentary, legal simplicity may be being sacrificed in pursuit of making things appear easier for business.
Discover our early analysis of the proposed changes to the existing Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 framework here.
Officer Duties Under the Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026
Despite public attention, the proposed officer duty changes under the Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026 do not materially alter what competent officers should already be doing.
Officers who are engaged, informed, and proactive will see little change.
Officers who were disengaged before are unlikely to suddenly change behaviour because of reframed obligations.
This raises an important question: what problem is this aspect of the reform actually solving?
Symbolic change may satisfy political narratives, but it rarely shifts outcomes on the ground.
Overlapping Legislation and Blurred Accountability Risks
One of the more concerning implications of the health and safety amendment bill is the potential for blurred accountability in environments already regulated under other frameworks.
Examples include:
On-road risk
Transport and logistics
Infrastructure and regulated works
When responsibility becomes unclear, prevention weakens. History shows that fragmented accountability rarely delivers better safety outcomes.
What the Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026 Means for NZ Businesses
For New Zealand businesses, the practical implications of the Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026 may include:
Increased reliance on internal judgement
Less certainty about regulator expectations
Greater variability in safety system quality
More downstream harm risk if controls degrade
While some businesses may welcome reduced perceived oversight, the long-term cost of unmanaged harm often shows up elsewhere - through injury, lost productivity, ACC claims, and reputational damage.
What Happens Next With the Health and Safety Reform Bill
The Bill is now part of the formal legislative process. That means:
Select Committee review
Public submissions
Potential amendments before enactment
For health and safety professionals, this is not a “wait and see” moment. Submissions matter. Silence will be interpreted as agreement.
Good law is shaped through scrutiny, evidence, and practical insight - not slogans.
Frequently Asked Questions – Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026
What is the Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026?
The Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026 proposes changes to HSWA aimed at narrowing regulatory focus toward critical risks and reducing perceived compliance burden.
Does the Bill remove the need for risk assessments?
No. Businesses will still need to identify and manage risks, but the scope and expectations may become less clear rather than more defined.
Who decides what a critical risk is?
Under the proposed changes, businesses are expected to make this determination themselves, based on their understanding of work activities and potential harm.
Does the Health and Safety Amendment Bill apply to all industries?
Yes, although the practical impact will vary significantly depending on sector, risk profile, and organisational capability.
What should officers do now?
Officers should continue to actively understand operations, verify controls, and ensure resources are available - regardless of proposed wording changes.
Final Thoughts
The Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2026 is being promoted as simplification. Whether it delivers safer work, clearer expectations, or better outcomes remains an open question.
What is clear is that the Bill deserves careful reading, informed discussion, and robust submission. Health and safety outcomes are shaped as much by policy detail as by intent.
Understanding the implications now puts businesses and professionals in a far stronger position as the reform process unfolds.
About the Author
This article was written by Matt Jones, a HASANZ-registered health and safety professional and founder of Advanced Safety.
Matt advises New Zealand business leaders on practical health and safety system design, HSWA compliance and risk management, with a focus on construction, manufacturing, and complex operational environments. He is also the host of the Health and Safety Unplugged podcast, where he speaks with industry leaders about real-world safety challenges and emerging practice.
Advanced Safety is a New Zealand-based workplace health and safety consultancy providing compliance audits, ISO 45001-aligned systems, risk assessments, and ongoing safety management support for construction, manufacturing and commercial businesses.
Links:
Matt Jones – LinkedIn
Advanced Safety – https://www.advancedsafety.co.nz/
Health and Safety Unplugged (YouTube) – https://www.youtube.com/@advancedsafety
