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Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Enforcement and other matters - Sentencing for offences

151: Sentencing criteria

You could also call this:

“How courts decide on penalties for health and safety violations”

When a court decides how to sentence or deal with someone who has broken the law under sections 47, 48, or 49, they need to follow some special rules.

The court must use the Sentencing Act 2002 and pay extra attention to certain things. They need to look at sections 7 to 10 of that Act. They also need to think about the purpose of this law and how much risk there was of someone getting sick, hurt, or dying.

The court will consider if anyone actually died, got seriously hurt, or became very ill. They’ll also think about whether these things could have happened.

The court will look at the person’s safety record. This includes any warnings, notices, or agreements they’ve had before. This helps the court see if there are any reasons to make the punishment more serious.

The court will also think about how much the person’s actions were different from what’s normal in their job or industry. If they were very different, this could make the punishment more serious.

Finally, the court will look at how much money the person has or how much they can pay. This might change how big a fine they get.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5977127.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Workplace safety
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Crime and justice > Courts and legal help
Crime and justice > Criminal law
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Part 4 Enforcement and other matters
Sentencing for offences

151Sentencing criteria

  1. This section applies when a court is determining how to sentence or otherwise deal with an offender convicted of an offence under section 47, 48, or 49.

  2. The court must apply the Sentencing Act 2002 and must have particular regard to—

  3. sections 7 to 10 of that Act; and
    1. the purpose of this Act; and
      1. the risk of, and the potential for, illness, injury, or death that could have occurred; and
        1. whether death, serious injury, or serious illness occurred or could reasonably have been expected to have occurred; and
          1. the safety record of the person (including, without limitation, any warning, infringement notice, or improvement notice issued to the person or enforceable undertaking agreed to by the person) to the extent that it shows whether any aggravating factor is present; and
            1. the degree of departure from prevailing standards in the person's sector or industry as an aggravating factor; and
              1. the person's financial capacity or ability to pay any fine to the extent that it has the effect of increasing the amount of the fine.

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