WorkSafe can only take action to respond to concerns that relate to unsafe or unhealthy situations where work is being carried out and may affect workers or others in the workplace.

If your concern is not work related, WorkSafe will not intervene.

WorkSafe cannot take action over every concern raised and is only able to respond in person to the most urgent or serious health and safety concerns.

WorkSafe records information about concerns received, as they could lead to future action on a non-urgent basis. For this to happen you must identify and provide details about the business or undertaking you have a concern about.

We will also consider whether WorkSafe is the best agency to respond to your concern. Some matters will fall within the jurisdiction of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) but may be more closely connected to the functions of another agency or body (such as local councils, the New Zealand Police, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Maritime NZ or Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)).

In situations where it’s not clear which agency is best placed to intervene we may need to discuss roles with the other agency.  We will not intervene when the best placed lead agency is already or has previously been involved.

We do not accept concerns that are trivial, that is, they are so ill-defined or obscure that they cannot be meaningfully considered or lack any apparent seriousness.

We do not accept concerns that are vexatious, for example, if the concern is intent on causing frustration or annoyance to a commercial competitor or to WorkSafe.

WorkSafe can only follow up on concerns if you identify the business or undertaking, and/or you give us precise enough information to locate the work site.

WorkSafe can only take action if the concern is timely, that is, the opportunity to meaningfully take action has not already passed by the time we are informed.

WorkSafe requires that you provide your contact details so we can contact you if we need more information, such as if we are having difficulty locating the work site.

Your contact details will be kept confidential if you request this. We do not accept anonymous concerns.

WorkSafe will only send an inspector to the site if the work situation could lead to a person’s death or cause a very serious injury or illness.

Ideally, before you contact WorkSafe, you will have discussed your concern with the business or undertaking you have a concern about.

If you are a worker with a concern about your work situation, you can raise the issue with your health and safety representative or union representative (if you have one). The Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) protects workers’ involvement in work health and safety.

• The name of the business you have a concern about, and/or
• The precise location of the business or work situation you have a concern about
• Details about the situation and the specific risks you have a concern about.
• Your contact details in case we need more information*.

* We do not accept anonymous concerns, however your contact details will be kept confidential if you request this. 

Please note that we do not routinely contact people who have reported a health and safety concern to us, to advise them of the outcome.