From Monday next week, the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) comes into effect putting landlords under a positive obligation to ensure the health and
safety of any workers (and subcontractors) you engage for the purpose of your rental business. With the HSWA being at its infancy, the landscape
for health and safety in New Zealand will undoubtedly continue to evolve in the coming years as the judiciary partakes in interpreting, applying and
therefore further shaping the new law. How the HSWA will be translated in terms of specific health and safety standards within the context of
residential tenancy is yet to be seen. For the time being however it is important for landlords to have a good general understanding of what
the HSWA intends and the key principles ensconced in this new piece of legislation.
Related: How will landlords be affected by the new workplace health and safety laws?
No black and white list of hazards
It is important from the outset to note that the HSWA is a principle-based piece of legislation that does not contain a list of known hazards and prevention
measures. The Act itself is not instructive as to which exact hazard to prevent or mitigate and is certainly not a direct authority for their
prevention or mitigation. For example, for some months there has been whisperings of meth lab testing being made compulsory for all rental properties because of the HSWA. In the absence of a test case and specific pronouncement by the courts, the industry itself is
fairly divided as to whether this is the case. The Act does not serve as a direct authority as there is nothing in the wording
of the HSWA...
