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Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Miscellaneous provisions - Regulations, exemptions, approved codes of practice, and safe work instruments - Regulations

212: Regulations relating to hazardous substances

You could also call this:

“Rules for safely managing dangerous materials”

The Governor-General can make rules about hazardous substances if the Minister recommends it. These rules can do many things to keep you safe from dangerous materials.

For substances that might explode, the rules can help prevent unexpected explosions and control what happens if there is one. For things that can catch fire easily, the rules can stop fires from starting and limit the damage if they do.

The rules can also deal with substances that react strongly with other things, materials that can burn or damage your skin, and things that are poisonous. They aim to stop you from being exposed to these dangers and to protect you if you do come into contact with them.

There can be rules about gases under pressure, even if they’re not naturally dangerous. The rules can also tell you how to avoid getting sick or hurt from hazardous substances, and how to protect the environment and your belongings.

The rules might say what a laboratory needs to do to be safe. They can also cover dangerous by-products that come from making or using hazardous substances. There might be instructions on what to do in an emergency involving these materials.

The rules can set up systems to keep track of hazardous substances. This might include recording where they are, how much there is, who’s in charge of them, and making sure the people handling them have the right training.

For hazardous substances controlled by the defence forces, the rules might use some of their own orders. The rules can also say what qualifications someone needs to handle hazardous substances.

If the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) creates a new system for classifying hazardous substances, the old system can still be used for up to 5 years when making these rules.

These regulations are a type of law called secondary legislation.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5977215.

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Part 5 Miscellaneous provisions
Regulations, exemptions, approved codes of practice, and safe work instruments: Regulations

212Regulations relating to hazardous substances

  1. The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations for 1 or more of the following purposes:

  2. prescribing duties, obligations, or restrictions imposed on any hazardous substance, or on any person in relation to any hazardous substances—
    1. for substances with explosive properties,—
      1. to reduce the likelihood of an unintended explosion:
        1. to control the adverse effects likely to be caused by an explosion:
        2. for substances with flammable properties,—
          1. to reduce the likelihood of an unintended fire or explosion:
            1. to control the adverse effects of any fire or explosion:
            2. for substances with oxidising properties,—
              1. to reduce the likelihood of any unintended release of chemical energy as an explosion or fire:
                1. to control the adverse effects of any release of chemical energy as an explosion or fire:
                2. for substances with corrosive properties,—
                  1. to reduce the likelihood of any unintended corrosion:
                    1. to control the adverse effects of any corrosion:
                    2. for substances with toxic properties,—
                      1. to reduce the likelihood of any unintended exposure to any such substances:
                        1. to control the adverse effects of any exposure to such substances:
                      2. prescribing or providing for controls on gases under pressure, whether intrinsically hazardous or not:
                        1. prescribing controls to avoid or mitigate illness or injury to people or damage to the environment or chattels from any hazardous substance:
                          1. prescribing requirements to be met by a laboratory:
                            1. prescribing controls for by-products with hazardous properties, which result from the manufacture or use of any hazardous substance:
                              1. prescribing requirements to manage any emergency involving a hazardous substance:
                                1. prescribing systems for tracking hazardous substances, including requirements that—
                                  1. the whereabouts of the substances be recorded at all times or from time to time:
                                    1. the quantity of the substances be recorded:
                                      1. a person be identified as being in charge of the substances:
                                        1. any person handling the substances hold prescribed qualifications:
                                        2. in relation to any hazardous substances under the control of the Minister of Defence or the Chief of Defence Force, applying (with or without modifications) for the purposes of the regulations any provisions of a Defence Force Order issued under section 27 of the Defence Act 1990 that may be in addition to, or in place of, the provisions of the regulations:
                                          1. prescribing qualifications, including competency, character, or other relevant requirements (for example, that a person be a member of any specified professional body or organisation) for any person handling a hazardous substance:
                                            1. providing for any matters contemplated by this Act, necessary for its administration, or necessary for giving it full effect.

                                              1. Subsection (3) applies if, before, on, or after the commencement of this section, the EPA issues an EPA notice under section 74 of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 establishing a hazard classification system that replaces the hazard classification system provided for in the Hazardous Substances (Classification) Regulations 2001 and the Hazardous Substances (Minimum Degrees of Hazard) Regulations 2001 (the existing classification system).

                                              2. Regulations made under this section may be made based on the existing classification system for a period not exceeding 5 years after the date on which the EPA notice is issued.

                                              3. Regulations under this section are secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

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                                              Notes
                                              • Section 212(4): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).