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About OPC

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Health and safety policy

Purpose

To provide the policy and practices within the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC), which meet the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA).

Scope

The policy applies to all staff of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and includes contract workers and other persons at the workplace who are lawfully on the premises.

The Health and Safety, Wellbeing Plan provides an overview of the management of health and safety at OPC. 

The workplace environment includes:

  • the physical work environment, including lighting, ventilation, dust, heat and noise, workplace design; and
  • the psychological work environment, including the design of work, work intensity and demand, supervision, organisational climate and culture, and interpersonal work relationships.

Key concepts

The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) 

New Zealand’s key work health and safety legislation is the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) and regulations made under that Act. All work and workplaces are covered by HSWA unless specifically excluded.

Worksafe New Zealand (WorkSafe) 

WorkSafe is the government agency that is the work health and safety regulator.

Duty holders under HSWA

A duty holder is a person who has a duty under HSWA. There are four types of duty holders – PCBUs, officers, workers and other persons at workplaces. We are all duty holders at OPC under HSWA.

PCBU

A PCBU is a ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’. A PCBU may be an individual person or an organisation. At OPC the PCBU is the Privacy Commissioner. A PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers, and that other persons are not put at risk by its work. This is called the ‘primary duty of care’.

Officer

An officer is a person who occupies a specified position or who occupies a position that allows them to exercise significant influence over the management of the business or undertaking. Officers must exercise due diligence to ensure the PCBU meets its health and

safety obligations. At OPC the Officers are the Deputy Privacy Commissioner and the General Manager.

Worker 

A worker is an individual who carries out work in any capacity for a PCBU. A worker may be an employee, a contractor or subcontractor, an employee of a contractor or subcontractor, an employee of a labour hire company, an outworker (including a homeworker), an apprentice or a trainee, a person gaining work experience or on a work trial, or a volunteer worker. Workers can be at any level (e.g. managers are workers too). Workers have their own health and safety duty to take reasonable care to keep themselves and others healthy and safe when carrying out work.

Workplace

The workplace is the occupied offices of OPC, located on level 11, 215 Lambton Quay, Wellington and level 13, 51 Shortland Street, Auckland.

Other persons at workplace

Examples of other persons at workplaces include workplace visitors. Other persons have their own health and safety duty to take reasonable care to keep themselves and others safe at a workplace.

Primary duty of care

A PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers, and that other people are not put at risk by its work. This is called the ‘primary duty of care’.

Notifiable events

A notifiable event is when someone dies, or a notifiable incident, illness or injury occurs.

Policy

A woman with long dark hair looks at the camera. She is wearing a black shirt. She is sitting at a table with flowers and a laptop on it. At OPC everyone must look after their own safety and the safety of other people.

To keep healthy and safe, everyone at our workplace will:

  • follow all instructions, rules, procedures and safe ways of working
  • report any pain or discomfort which is impacting on work performance
  • promptly report workplace accidents and near misses
  • if injured at work, work with ACC and OPC on agreed rehabilitation plans and actions
  • report workplace hazards in a timely manner

To keep people healthy and safe at work, managers (on behalf of the PCBU) will:

  • engage with all workers (including contractors) to improve health and safety:
    − engage with workers and their representatives on health and safety matters that may directly affect them
    − have worker participation practices that give workers reasonable opportunities to participate effectively in improving health and safety on an ongoing basis
  • look at the root cause of incidents and injuries, in order to assess and manage associated risks
  • make sure all accidents and near misses are written down in the Accident Register
  • ensure all identified physical workplace hazards are documented in the Hazard Register
  • keep improving the health and safety system in our workplace
  • assist as appropriate in the case management of work and non-work injuries
  • ensure contractors and sub-contractors have safe ways of working which protect OPC staff as well as themselves when undertaking work in our premises.
  • inform contractors of their responsibilities and the OPC health and safety policy when on premises.

To keep people healthy and safe, managers (on behalf of the PCBU) will:

  • know about and comply with health and safety legislation and relevant regulations
  • identify what could harm the health or endanger the safety of workers or others (eg: visitors, bystanders)
  • assess work risks and identify control measures together with workers and their representatives 
  • develop and review health and safety goals
  • review our workplace’s health and safety system on a yearly basis
  • familiarise new employees with the OPC health and safety policy as part of their induction
  • encourage participation in the Health Safety and Wellbeing Committee.

Worker responsibilities

Workers have their own health and safety duties. Workers must:

  • take reasonable care for their own health and safety
  • promptly report any identified workplace hazards
  • take reasonable care that what they do or do not do does not adversely affect the health and safety of other persons
  • co-operate with any reasonable workplace health and safety policy or procedure that has been notified to workers
  • comply, so far as reasonably able, with any reasonable instruction given by OPC, so OPC comply with HSWA and regulations. 

Employee engagement and participation: Health Safety and Wellbeing Committee

The Health Safety and Wellbeing Committee (HSWC) is a staff forum through which OPC engage with staff on health and safety matters that may directly affect them.

The HSWC will be supported by SLT to have reasonable opportunities to participate effectively in improving health and safety at OPC on an ongoing basis. 

The HSWC is able to make recommendations relating to any work health and safety matter.

Functions include assistance in the development of health and safety standards, rules, policies or procedures. The Committee may make recommendations relating to work health and safety, and assist in establishing and maintaining a culture of health and safety throughout OPC.

Read a copy of this policy including Appendix I - Current health and safety practices at OPC and Appendix 2 - Determining whether it is a notifiable illness and injury (opens to PDF, 250KB).

Related reading 

RESPONSIBILITIES 
Persons/ Areas Affected  OPC Staff, Contractors and visitors
Contact General Manager
Approval Authority Senior Leadership Team
Last Review Date  October 2024 - previously August 2022
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