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Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

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

228: Legal effect of safe work instruments

You could also call this:

“Safe work guidelines become law when other rules say so”

Safe work instruments are documents that explain how to work safely. These instruments only have legal power when other rules, called regulations, mention them. This means that the safe work instruments become part of the law only when regulations say so.

When regulations talk about safe work instruments, they can do it in two ways. They can refer to a specific safe work instrument, even if it changes over time. Or, they can mention any safe work instrument that might be created in the future for a particular purpose, even if it doesn’t exist yet when the regulations are made.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5977230.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Workplace safety
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"Minister can create, modify, or revoke safety guidelines after consultation"

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

228Legal effect of safe work instruments

  1. A safe work instrument made under section 227 has legal effect only to the extent that any regulations made under this Act refer to it.

  2. For the purposes of subsection (1), regulations may refer to—

  3. a particular safe work instrument as amended or replaced from time to time; or
    1. any safe work instrument that may be made for the purposes of regulations (even if the instrument has not been made at the time the regulations are made).

      Notes
      • Section 228(1): amended, on , by section 21 of the Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 10).