The Health and Safety at Work Act came into effect on the 4th of April 2016 leaving the landlord/property management community with a lot of anxious questions.
APIA Vice President Peter Lewis attended last night’s HSWA training workshop presented by Worksafe New Zealand and shares the following information:
Related article: Get ready. HSWA goes live soon.
Q: Does the HSWA apply to me?
A: Yes. The Health and Safety at Work Act applies to all business activities. Residential rentals are a business, and so the
HSWA applies, and as landlords (and their property managers) are in control of those premises they become a Person in Charge of a Business or Undertaking
(PCBU) under the Act.
HSWA applies, and as landlords (and their property managers) are in control of those premises they become a Person in Charge of a Business or Undertaking
(PCBU) under the Act.
However, the Act only applies to a residential rental property while it is a place of work. Most of the time your rental is a home, not
a place of work, and in those instances there will be no HSWA obligations on the landlord.
a place of work, and in those instances there will be no HSWA obligations on the landlord.
For example, if a carpet in your rental has a hole in it and your tenant trips over that hole, the Act is not breached in this instance. If you employ/engage
someone to enter onto your premises to repair that whole, the Act will apply from the time the work starts until the time the work finishes. So
if during the repair your tenant is to trip over a piece of repair equipment then the Act will apply.
someone to enter onto your premises to repair that whole, the Act will apply from the time the work starts until the time the work finishes. So
if during the repair your tenant is to trip over a piece of repair equipment then the Act will apply.
Q: What are my obligations under the act?
A: Your main obligation under the act is to ensure that any work carried out on the property is conducted in a...
