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Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Health and safety duties - Duties to preserve sites and notify notifiable events

55: Duty to preserve sites

You could also call this:

“Keep accident sites unchanged until an inspector approves changes”

If you’re a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) and you manage or control a workplace where a notifiable event has happened, you need to make sure the site of the event isn’t disturbed. You have to do this until an inspector says it’s okay to change things.

There are some things you can still do even if you’re not supposed to disturb the site. You can help someone who’s hurt, remove someone who has died, do what’s needed to make the site safe or stop another notifiable event from happening, follow a police officer’s instructions, or do anything an inspector or the regulator says is okay.

This rule doesn’t apply if the notifiable event is being looked into under the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971 or the Transport Accident Investigation Commission Act 1990.

If you don’t follow this rule, you’re breaking the law. If you’re caught, you could be fined. If you’re an individual, you might have to pay up to $10,000. If you’re not an individual (like if you’re a company), you might have to pay up to $50,000.

When we talk about a ‘site’ in this rule, we mean the place where the event happened. This includes any machines, materials, structures, or things that were part of the notifiable event. But sometimes, in special situations that are set out in the rules, certain sites might not be included.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6544142.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Workplace safety
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Crime and justice > Criminal law
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Part 2 Health and safety duties
Duties to preserve sites and notify notifiable events

55Duty to preserve sites

  1. A PCBU who manages or controls a workplace at which a notifiable event has occurred must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the site where the event occurred is not disturbed until authorised by an inspector.

  2. Subsection (1) does not prevent any action—

  3. to assist an injured person; or
    1. to remove a deceased person; or
      1. that is essential to make the site safe or to minimise the risk of a further notifiable event; or
        1. that is done by, or under the direction of, a constable acting in execution of his or her duties; or
          1. for which an inspector or the regulator has given permission.

            1. Subsection (1) does not apply if the notifiable event is being investigated under the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971 or the Transport Accident Investigation Commission Act 1990.

            2. A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction,—

            3. for an individual, to a fine not exceeding $10,000:
              1. for any other person, to a fine not exceeding $50,000.

                1. For the purposes of this section, a site—

                2. includes any plant, substance, structure, or thing associated with the notifiable event; but
                  1. does not include any particular site in prescribed circumstances.

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