What NZ Retailers Need to Know About the upcoming Critical Risk Management Legislation Change
What is changing?
From 1 April 2027, the Health and Safety at Work Act will place greater emphasis on identifying and prioritising critical risks, those capable of causing the most serious harm - with retailers expected to demonstrate that these risks are effectively managed.
Who do these changes apply to?
All retailers and shopping centre/mall management companies operating in New Zealand.
When is it changing?
Retailers should aim to complete their critical risk identification, controls, response arrangements, training and assurance by 1 March 2027, ahead of the amended legislation coming into force on 1 April 2027.
The legislation
The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act 2026 amends the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) to place greater emphasis on identifying and managing critical risks - those capable of causing serious harm.
The amendments become law on 1 April 2027 and legislate that businesses will need to identify critical risks based on what they know or ought reasonably to know about their work.
Larger businesses must manage all risks while giving critical risks the highest priority.
What does this mean for retailers?
If a risk is identified as critical, retailers must be able to demonstrate it is effectively managed, including clear response arrangements for high consequence incidents.
These should be proportionate to the business, communicated, trained and tested.
What should retailers complete by 1 March 2027?
(in readiness for legislation coming into force on April 1st)
Know your critical risks.
Check your controls are effective.
Put the right controls in place.
Make sure people know what to do.
Exercise and review your response.
Management can demonstrate the risks are being managed.
What Happens If Critical Risks Aren’t Managed
Failure to adequately identify or control a critical risk may result in a breach of existing H&S Work Act duties. Potential consequences include WorkSafe enforcement, prosecution, significant financial penalties, operational disruption, reputational damage and increased
scrutiny of directors and senior management.
THE KEY MESSAGE
Retailers should ensure critical risks have appropriate controls, response arrangements, training and assurance in place before the legislation takes effect on 1 April 2027. Failure to adequately manage a known critical risk could expose the business and potentially its officers - to WorkSafe enforcement, prosecution, significant penalties and reputational damage.
If you'd like to find out more or chat to our Retail Security Specialist Matt Murray on how your business can prepare for the next steps - click here to get in touch for a no obligations chat!
