Welcome to our August newsletter,
This month we have been witness to a much anticipated and spectacular Olympics in Rio. We have again managed to punch well above our weight with our athletes coming home with a total of 18 medals, marking our best result at an Olympics ever.
As you will be aware the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 has now been in effect for some months and we are now beginning to see how the procedural changes are working. One of the most significant changes around the law is that businesses are required to notify WorkSafe in the case of a serious event. This means that WorkSafe must be notified by a person conducting business as soon as possible after an event has taken place.
Serious events are categorised by death, notifiable illnesses or injuries or notifiable incidents, all of which have different definitions which we have outlined below.
The first of which is death and is relatively self-explanatory but notification is required if there is a death in the workplace.
Generally, an illness or injury will be notifiable if the injury or illness requires one of the following:
- Immediate medical attention (from a doctor, nurse or paramedic).
- Admission into hospital.
- Medical attention within 48 hours of exposure to a substance.
- If an employee has an infection to which work is a significant contributory factor.
A notifiable incident can be defined as an incident where a workplace is exposed to a serious health and safety risk arising from exposure to a dangerous substance or industrial accident. The incidents category is significantly harder to define than the area of injury and illness, we urge you to notify WorkSafe if you are in doubt as to whether an event is required to be notified.
When a Notifiable Event occurs, once you have made the incident site safe you are required to ensure that the site remains unchanged until you have been given the go ahead by WorkSafe. It is your responsibility to preserve the scene for WorkSafe if they choose to do an investigation.
If you find yourself in the unfortunate position where you need to make a notification you can do so on the phone by calling 0800 030 040 or online at www.worksafe.govt.nz.
If you have any matters that you require assistance with or any questions please do not hesitate to be in touch.
We look forward to hearing from you.
In this Issue:
- Why You Need a Lawyer When You Buy or Sell a House
- Every business needs a good business lawyer
- 3 Key attributes for effective negotiators
- Top 5 mistakes to avoid when selling your house
Kind regards
DAVENPORTS WEST LAWYERS LIMITED
Why You Need a Lawyer When You Buy or Sell a House
Buying a home will probably be the largest and most significant purchase you will make in your life. It also involves the law of real property, which is unique and raises special issues of practice, and problems not present in other transactions. A real…
Every business needs a good business lawyer
Start-up companies, particularly small- to medium-sized businesses, often neglect to think about having a business lawyer on hand when starting out. And if they do think about it at all, it’s often dismissed in an attempt to save money. What happens…
3 Key attributes for effective negotiators
Negotiation is a fundamental part of our working lives. Whether it’s haggling with a supplier over a service level agreement, negotiating over price with a new client or discussing a contract with an employee, the process of negotiation is almost a dail…
Top 5 mistakes to avoid when selling your house
Selling your home is a stressful and emotionally challenging time, especially if you’ve never done it before. You will have to cope with strangers coming into your home, poking around in your cupboards and if no offers are forthcoming, it can feel…