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Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Enforcement and other matters - Enforceable undertakings

127: Contravention of enforceable undertaking

You could also call this:

“Consequences for breaking a workplace safety promise”

If you break a promise you made to follow safety rules (called an enforceable undertaking), the regulator can ask the District Court to step in. The court can make you keep your promise or cancel it if they think you’ve broken it. They might also tell you to pay for the court case and for someone to check that you follow the rules in the future. Even if this happens, you can still get in trouble for breaking the original safety rules. The court can decide what else to do based on what happened.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5977084.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Work and jobs > Workplace safety
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126: Compliance with enforceable undertaking, or

“You must follow through on your health and safety promises”

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“How to withdraw or change an enforceable undertaking you've made”

Part 4 Enforcement and other matters
Enforceable undertakings

127Contravention of enforceable undertaking

  1. The regulator may apply to the District Court for an order if a person contravenes an enforceable undertaking.

  2. If the court is satisfied that the person who made the enforceable undertaking has contravened the undertaking, the court may make either or both of the following orders:

  3. an order directing the person to comply with the undertaking:
    1. an order discharging the undertaking.

      1. In addition to the orders referred to in subsection (2), the court may make any other order that the court considers appropriate in the circumstances, including orders directing the person to pay to the regulator—

      2. the costs of the proceedings; and
        1. the reasonable costs of the regulator in monitoring compliance with the enforceable undertaking in the future.

          1. This section does not prevent proceedings being brought for the contravention or alleged contravention of this Act or regulations to which the enforceable undertaking relates.

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            Notes
            • Section 127(1): amended, on , by section 261 of the District Court Act 2016 (2016 No 49).