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Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017

Emergencies, fire control, industry brigades, water supply, and evacuation schemes - Operational functions, duties, and powers - Functions, duties, and powers in emergencies

39: Hazardous substance emergency

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"What to do in a hazardous substance emergency to stay safe"

Illustration for Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017

If a hazardous substance emergency happens, the person in charge of responding to it can take actions to keep you safe. They can try to make the situation safe and save lives and property. They can also tell you to stop doing something that might make the emergency worse, ask you to take action to prevent it from getting worse, tell you to leave the area, or tell you not to enter the area. If this happens, the person in charge has special powers under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 until someone else with the right authority arrives.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6819457.

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Part 2Emergencies, fire control, industry brigades, water supply, and evacuation schemes
Operational functions, duties, and powers: Functions, duties, and powers in emergencies

39Hazardous substance emergency

  1. If a hazardous substance emergency occurs, the authorised person responding to the emergency may do 1 or more of the following:

  2. endeavour by all practicable means—
    1. to stabilise or render safe the hazardous substance emergency:
      1. to save lives and property in danger:
      2. direct any person to stop any activity that may contribute to the emergency:
        1. request any person, either orally or in writing, to take any action to prevent or limit the extent of the emergency:
          1. direct any person to leave any place in the vicinity of the emergency:
            1. direct any person to refrain from entering the vicinity of the emergency.

              1. If this section applies, the authorised person has the powers of an enforcement officer under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 relating to the hazardous substance emergency until the arrival of an enforcement officer.

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