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Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

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

226: Use of approved codes of practice in proceedings

You could also call this:

“How courts can use approved safety codes as guidance, not as law”

You can’t use codes of practice to enforce rights or obligations in court. However, if you’re in court, you can use an approved code of practice to show whether someone followed the rules in the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The court can look at the code to understand what people know about dangers, how to check for risks, and how to control those risks. The court can also use the code to figure out what’s reasonable to do in different situations.

You don’t have to follow the code exactly. You can do things differently, as long as you’re just as safe or even safer than what the code says.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5977227.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Workplace safety
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Crime and justice > Courts and legal help
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225: Proof of codes of practice, or

“Official notice confirms a code of practice is valid”

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227: Minister may approve safe work instruments, or

“Minister can create, modify, or revoke safety guidelines after consultation”

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

226Use of approved codes of practice in proceedings

  1. No code of practice issued or amended under this Part confers rights or obligations capable of enforcement in any civil or criminal proceedings.

  2. However, an approved code of practice is admissible in any civil or criminal proceedings as evidence of whether or not a duty or obligation under this Act has been complied with.

  3. The court may—

  4. have regard to the code as evidence of what is known about a hazard or risk, risk assessment, or risk control to which the code relates; and
    1. rely on the code in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to which the code relates.

      1. Nothing in this section prevents a person from introducing evidence of compliance with this Act in a manner that is different from the code but provides a standard of work health and safety that is equivalent to or higher than the standard required in the code.

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