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Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Enforcement and other matters - Sentencing for offences

153: Adverse publicity orders

You could also call this:

“Court can order businesses to publicly announce health and safety law breaches”

If you do something wrong that breaks health and safety laws, a court can make you tell people about it. This is called an adverse publicity order. The court can make you do two things:

  1. Tell everyone about what you did wrong, what happened because of it, and what punishment you got. The court will tell you exactly how to do this.

  2. Tell specific people or groups about what you did wrong, what happened because of it, and what punishment you got. Again, the court will tell you how to do this.

You have to show proof to the regulator (the person in charge of making sure everyone follows the rules) that you’ve done what the court told you to do. You need to do this within 7 days after the time the court gave you to complete the task.

The court can decide to make this order on its own, or because the person who brought you to court asked for it.

If you don’t show the regulator that you’ve done what you were told, the regulator can do it for you. Even if you do show proof, but the regulator doesn’t think you’ve done it properly, they can ask the court for permission to do it themselves.

If the regulator has to do the task for you, you’ll have to pay them back for any money they spent doing it. They can take you to court to get this money if you don’t pay.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5977129.

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

153Adverse publicity orders

  1. A court may make an order (an adverse publicity order) requiring an offender—

  2. to take either or both of the following actions within the period specified in the order:
    1. to publicise, in the way specified in the order, the offence, its consequences, the penalty imposed, and any other related matter:
      1. to notify a specified person or specified class of persons, in the way specified in the order, of the offence, its consequences, the penalty imposed, and any other related matter; and
      2. to give the regulator, within 7 days after the end of the period specified in the order, evidence that the action or actions have been taken by the offender in accordance with the order.

        1. The court may make an adverse publicity order on its own initiative or on the application of the person prosecuting the offence.

        2. If the offender fails to give evidence to the regulator in accordance with subsection (1)(b), the regulator, or a person authorised in writing by the regulator, may take the action or actions specified in the order.

        3. However, the regulator may apply to the court for an order authorising the regulator, or a person authorised in writing by the regulator, to take the action or actions specified in the order if—

        4. the offender gives evidence to the regulator in accordance with subsection (1)(b); and
          1. despite that evidence, the regulator is not satisfied that the offender has taken the action or actions specified in the order in accordance with the order.

            1. If the court makes an order under subsection (1), the regulator may recover as a debt due to the regulator in any court of competent jurisdiction any reasonable expenses incurred in taking an action under subsection (3) or (4).

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