Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Enforcement and other matters - General provisions relating to proceedings

160: State of mind of directors, employees, or agents attributed

You could also call this:

“How employees' or agents' thoughts can represent a person or company in legal cases”

When someone needs to prove what a person was thinking in a legal case about the Health and Safety at Work Act, there are some rules to follow. If the case is about an individual, you can show what their employee or agent was thinking, as long as they were doing their job. This counts as what the individual was thinking.

For cases about a company or organisation, you can show what an officer, employee, or agent was thinking while they were working. This counts as what the company or organisation was thinking.

When we talk about what someone was thinking, we mean what they knew, what they meant to do, what they believed, or what they were trying to achieve. It also includes why they thought or did those things.

These rules help make it easier to prove what people or organisations were thinking in legal cases about health and safety at work.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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=DLM6544160.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Work and jobs > Workplace safety
Crime and justice > Criminal law
Previous

159: Offence to fail to comply with order, or

“You can be fined for not following certain orders under this law”

Next

161: Conduct of directors, employees, or agents attributed, or

“When people act for you, you may be responsible for their actions”

Part 4 Enforcement and other matters
General provisions relating to proceedings

160State of mind of directors, employees, or agents attributed

  1. If, in any civil proceedings under this Act in respect of any conduct engaged in by an individual, being conduct in relation to which any provision of this Act or regulations applies, it is necessary to establish the state of mind of that individual, it is sufficient to show that an employee or agent of the individual acting within the scope of his, her, or its actual or apparent authority, had that state of mind.

  2. If, in any civil or criminal proceedings under this Act in respect of any conduct engaged in by a person other than an individual, being conduct in relation to which any provision of this Act or regulations applies, it is necessary to establish the state of mind of the person, it is sufficient to show that an officer, employee, or agent of the person, acting within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority, had that state of mind.

  3. In this section, state of mind, in relation to a person, includes the knowledge, intention, opinion, belief, or purpose of the person and the person's reasons for that intention, opinion, belief, or purpose.

Compare