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Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Enforcement and other matters - Inspectors and health and safety medical practitioners - Inspectors

169: Power to enter homes

You could also call this:

“When inspectors can enter homes for work safety checks”

You need to know about when an inspector can enter a home for work safety reasons. If a workplace is inside a home or can only be reached by going through a home, an inspector can’t go in without permission. They need either the person living there to say it’s okay, or they need to get a special permission called a warrant.

To get a warrant, the inspector has to ask a person in charge of giving warrants. This person will only give a warrant if they think there’s a good reason to believe the home is a workplace, has a workplace inside it, or is the only way to get to a workplace.

If the inspector gets a warrant, they can only do the things that section 168 says they can do. This means they can’t do anything extra just because they’re in a home.

Remember, the inspector always needs permission or a warrant to enter a home for work safety checks. They can’t just walk in whenever they want.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5977153.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Workplace safety
Work and jobs > Worker rights
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168: Powers of entry and inspection, or

“Inspectors can check workplaces and information to ensure health and safety compliance”

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“Inspector can remove or destroy dangerous items at work to prevent immediate harm”

Part 4 Enforcement and other matters
Inspectors and health and safety medical practitioners: Inspectors

169Power to enter homes

  1. Despite section 168(1) and (2), an inspector must not, except with the consent of an occupier or pursuant to a warrant issued under subsection (2),—

  2. enter a workplace that is, or is within, a home; or
    1. enter a workplace through a home.

      1. An issuing officer may, on an application made by an inspector in the manner provided in subpart 3 of Part 4 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012, issue a warrant to enter a home (or part of a home) if he or she is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the home—

      2. is a workplace or has a workplace within it; or
        1. is the only practicable means through which the inspector may enter the workplace.

          1. A warrant issued under subsection (2) authorises an inspector to exercise only the powers specified in section 168.

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