What is HSWA section 44 (Officer due diligence in New Zealand)?
Short answer
Section 44 of the New Zealand Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 imposes a personal due diligence duty on officers of PCBUs — directors, CEOs and senior managers. It has the same six-limb structure as the Australian WHS Act s.27 and is enforced by WorkSafe NZ.
HSWA 2015 s.44 is New Zealand's officer due diligence duty — the direct analogue of the Australian WHS Act s.27. It imposes a personal duty on officers (directors, CEOs, senior managers) of every PCBU to exercise due diligence to ensure the PCBU meets its HSWA duties.
The six limbs of due diligence under s.44(4) are:
- Acquire and keep up to date knowledge of WHS matters.
- Gain an understanding of the nature of the PCBU's operations and the hazards and risks associated with those operations.
- Ensure appropriate resources and processes are available to eliminate or minimise risks to health and safety.
- Ensure appropriate processes for receiving and considering information regarding incidents, hazards and risks; and for responding in a timely way.
- Ensure processes for compliance with any duty or obligation under HSWA.
- Verify the provision and use of the resources and processes referred to in paragraphs (3) to (5).
NZ enforcement is by WorkSafe NZ. The highest penalty under HSWA is reckless conduct (s.47): up to 5 years' imprisonment and NZ$600,000 for an individual, or NZ$3M for a corporation. There is no separate Industrial Manslaughter offence in NZ — s.47 reckless conduct is the equivalent.
RAE IQ supports both s.27 (AU) and s.44 (NZ) attestation workflows and produces a board-grade Officer Verification Report PDF covering each of the six limbs with evidence linked.