New occupational health and safety law has completed its passage through Parliament.
The third reading of the Health and Safety Reform Bill was divided into five bills. The main health and safety bill passed by 63 to 58 with the support of National, Maori Party, ACT and United Future. Four of the divided bills – concerning, ACC, hazardous substances, employment relations amendments and WorkSafe NZ were passed by 109 to 12 with NZ First opposed.
Paul Goldsmith said the Government was committed to improving workplace safety and this bill would help achieve the goal of reducing workplace and industry.
The bill allowed for the complexity of modern working arrangements and placed a proportional response on those in charge of a workplace to do what they could reasonably due to reduce risk.
Iain Lees Gallloway said the Government had gone out with a whimper by putting up a junior minister for the third reading. The Government had lost a once in a life time opportunity to fix workplace health and safety. The original bill had worked but changes made by the Government had watered it down and gutted the most important provisions guaranteeing the right to health and safety representatives for all workers if they wanted one.
The House rose at 6pm interrupting the first reading of the Taxation (Bright-line Test for Residential Land) Bill.
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