Is a hazard register required by law in New Zealand?

The short answer

No New Zealand law requires a business to keep a hazard register. The General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations 2016 require a business to find its hazards and manage the risks. Regulation 5 says

A PCBU, in managing risks to health and safety, must identify hazards that could give rise to reasonably foreseeable risks to health and safety.

Regulations 6 to 8 then require control measures chosen through the hierarchy of controls, kept effective, and reviewed. None of those regulations names a document, a format or a register.

WorkSafe has said the same thing in plain words. Its farming myths page tells businesses that a system to identify and manage risks is required, and adds:

While you are not legally required to write this down, it will actually save you time in the long run and be easier to communicate to others if you record what you have done.

The old Act did not require one either

The belief that a register is compulsory is older than the current law. Section 7 of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 required employers to have

effective methods for systematically identifying existing hazards to employees at work

along with methods for assessing whether each hazard was significant. The section asked for methods. A register was the most common way businesses showed they had them, and templates built around significant hazards are still in circulation, including an old risk register template on WorkSafe's own site. That 1992 Act was repealed on 4 April 2016.

The records New Zealand law does require

• A record of every notifiable event, kept for at least five years from the date WorkSafe was notified. Section 57 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. The Act calls it a record, and it covers notifiable events only, not every minor injury.
• An inventory of hazardous substances used, handled, manufactured or stored at the workplace. Regulation 3.1 of the Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017, with exceptions such as consumer products in household quantities.
• A record of hazardous substances training and instruction given to each worker. Regulation 4.5 of the same regulations.
• A written asbestos management plan where asbestos or asbestos containing material has been identified at a workplace. Regulation 13 of the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016. New Zealand law uses a management plan here, and the term asbestos register comes from Australian practice.
• Records of exposure monitoring and health monitoring where the regulations require that monitoring. Part 3 of the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations.
• An emergency plan for the workplace, prepared, maintained and put into practice. Regulation 14 of the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations.

What WorkSafe suggests you keep

WorkSafe's quick guide Identifying, assessing and managing work risks says:

It is good practice to keep written records of how you are managing your risks.

It says records for low risk work can be simple, a note of the main risks and what you decided to do, and that riskier work will need more detail. Its suggested template has columns for the hazard, the potential harm, the likelihood, the control measures, monitoring and who is responsible.

WorkSafe's template is a register in practice. Regulations 5 to 8 are met by controls that are in place and reviewed, with the register as the evidence.

Why a list on its own falls short

Regulation 7 requires control measures to stay effective, and regulation 8 requires them to be reviewed and revised. A register written once and filed meets neither. An inspector will look for controls that are in place on the floor and evidence that someone checks them.

Small businesses and the 2027 changes

From 1 April 2027 the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act 2026 limits the core duties of a business with fewer than 20 workers to critical risks, meaning risks likely to cause death, serious injury, serious illness or long-term harm. WorkSafe's small business guidance describes identifying those risks, putting controls in place, and monitoring and reviewing them. It does not add a register requirement. The compulsory records listed above still apply where their regulations apply.

A sensible order of work

1. Walk the site with the people who do the work and list what could seriously hurt someone.
2. For each, write down the control you rely on and check it is actually in place.
3. Tick off the compulsory records that apply to you, including notifiable events, hazardous substances inventory and training records, an asbestos management plan, monitoring records and an emergency plan.
4. Tell workers about the risks and controls that affect them, and record that you did.
5. Set a review date, and review sooner after an incident, a near miss or a change to the work.

Common questions

Sources

• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, sections 56 and 57
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016, regulations 5 to 8 and 14
• Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017, regulations 3.1 and 4.5
• Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016, regulation 13
• Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, section 7 (repealed)
• WorkSafe, Identifying, assessing and managing work risks
• WorkSafe, Farming health and safety myths busted