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Electricity Act 1992

General - Functions and powers of WorkSafe and Secretary

20: Obstructing WorkSafe

You could also call this:

“You can't stop WorkSafe from doing their job”

If you obstruct WorkSafe when they are doing their job under this law, you are breaking the law. This can happen in several ways:

You can be fined up to $50,000 if you’re a person, or $250,000 if you’re a company, for doing any of these things:

If you purposely get in the way of WorkSafe when they’re doing their job, that’s against the law.

If WorkSafe asks you to show them a document, let them look at it, make copies, or take parts of it, you need to do that. If you don’t have a good reason for not doing it, you’re breaking the law.

If WorkSafe asks you for information or tells you to do something for this law, you need to do it. If you don’t, and you don’t have a good reason why not, that’s against the law.

If you damage or mess with anything that belongs to WorkSafe or that they’re using for this law, you’re breaking the law.

If there’s an accident that you need to tell WorkSafe about (as mentioned in section 16), you have to do that. If you don’t, or if you mess with the accident scene when you’re not supposed to (as mentioned in section 17(1)), you’re breaking the law. Even if you do have to change something at the accident scene, you need to tell WorkSafe what you did, as mentioned in section 17(2).

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM282449.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Workplace safety Crime and justice > Criminal law
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"You must help WorkSafe do their job and check things"

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"You can stay silent to avoid getting in trouble"

Part 2 General
Functions and powers of WorkSafe and Secretary

20Obstructing WorkSafe

  1. Every person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 in the case of an individual, or $250,000 in the case of a body corporate, who—

  2. intentionally obstructs WorkSafe when WorkSafe is lawfully carrying out duties under this Act:
    1. refuses or fails without reasonable excuse—
      1. to produce any document when required to do so by WorkSafe for the purposes of this Act; or
        1. to allow WorkSafe to examine or make copies of or take extracts from any such document; or
          1. to supply any information required of the person by WorkSafe under this Act; or
            1. to comply with any other lawful order or requisition given or made by WorkSafe:
            2. intentionally damages or interferes with any property used by, or supplied for the use or in the possession of, WorkSafe for the purposes of this Act:
              1. fails without reasonable excuse to notify any accident to which section 16 applies when required to do so by subsection (3) of that section, or interferes in any way with the scene of any such accident otherwise than in accordance with section 17(1), or, having interfered in any such scene in accordance with section 17(1), fails without reasonable excuse to notify WorkSafe of the steps he or she has taken as required by section 17(2).

                Compare
                • 1982 No 27 s 16
                Notes
                • Section 20 heading: amended, on , by section 22 of the WorkSafe New Zealand Act 2013 (2013 No 94).
                • Section 20: amended, on , by section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81).
                • Section 20: amended, on , by section 11(1) of the Electricity Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 70).
                • Section 20(a): amended, on , by section 22 of the WorkSafe New Zealand Act 2013 (2013 No 94).
                • Section 20(b)(i): amended, on , by section 22 of the WorkSafe New Zealand Act 2013 (2013 No 94).
                • Section 20(b)(ii): amended, on , by section 22 of the WorkSafe New Zealand Act 2013 (2013 No 94).
                • Section 20(b)(iii): amended, on , by section 22 of the WorkSafe New Zealand Act 2013 (2013 No 94).
                • Section 20(b)(iv): amended, on , by section 22 of the WorkSafe New Zealand Act 2013 (2013 No 94).
                • Section 20(c): amended, on , by section 22 of the WorkSafe New Zealand Act 2013 (2013 No 94).
                • Section 20(d): amended, on , by section 22 of the WorkSafe New Zealand Act 2013 (2013 No 94).
                • Section 20(d): amended, on , by section 11(2) of the Electricity Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 70).