Health and Safety Representative Requirements in New Zealand
A practical guide for businesses, employers and workers.
On this page
Use this guide to quickly find the information you need about Health and Safety Representative requirements, HSR elections, training entitlement, work groups and training pathways.
Start here
What is an HSR?
Understand the role of a Health and Safety Representative.
Requirements
Does every workplace need one?
Clarifies when a business must initiate an HSR election.
Official sources
Legislation and guidance links
Links to HSWA, regulations and WorkSafe guidance.
Common question
19+ workers rule
Explains what the 1 HSR per 19 workers rule actually means.
Election process
HSR elections
When elections are required and who can stand or vote.
Representation
Work groups
How work groups represent workers effectively.
Numbers
How many HSRs?
Guidance on HSR numbers once an election is required or chosen.
Training
HSR training
Initial HSR training and follow-on HSR Stage 2 development.
Entitlement
Paid training days
Annual paid training leave and maximum training day limits.
Courses
HSR training pathway
Stage 1, Stage 2, refresher and company training options.
Quick answers
FAQs
Common questions about HSR requirements in New Zealand.
A practical guide for New Zealand workplaces
Health and Safety Representatives, often called HSRs, play an important role in worker participation, consultation and workplace health and safety.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, businesses must engage with workers and provide reasonable opportunities for workers to participate in improving health and safety on an ongoing basis.
This guide explains when a workplace may need a Health and Safety Representative, when an HSR election is required, who can be elected, how many HSRs may be needed, what training is required, and what paid training entitlement applies.
What is a Health and Safety Representative?
A Health and Safety Representative is a worker who has been elected by members of their work group to represent them on health and safety matters.
An HSR’s role is not to take over the employer’s health and safety duties. The primary duty to manage workplace health and safety remains with the PCBU, which means the person conducting a business or undertaking.
HSRs help workers have a voice in health and safety decisions and provide a formal pathway for consultation, representation and issue resolution.
HSRs may support health and safety by:
- representing workers on health and safety matters
- raising worker concerns
- helping identify hazards and risks
- making recommendations about health and safety
- supporting worker participation
- taking part in consultation
- assisting with health and safety issue resolution
- supporting practical safety improvements
Key HSR legislation and guidance links
The following official legislation and WorkSafe guidance links support the information on this page and may help employers, Health and Safety Representatives and workers understand their obligations.
Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
The main workplace health and safety law in New Zealand.
HSWA Part 3: Worker engagement and representation
Includes worker engagement, worker participation, HSR elections and Health and Safety Committees.
HSWA Section 58: Duty to engage with workers
Explains the PCBU duty to engage with workers on work health and safety matters.
HSWA Section 62: HSR election requests
Explains when a PCBU must initiate the election of one or more Health and Safety Representatives.
HSWA Sections 64 and 65: Work groups and number of HSRs
Explains how work groups are determined and how the number of HSRs is determined.
HSWA Section 66: Health and Safety Committees
Explains when a PCBU must establish a Health and Safety Committee.
HSWA Sections 69 and 70: Provisional Improvement Notices
Explains PIN powers and training requirements for issuing a Provisional Improvement Notice.
HSWA Sections 84 and 85: Direction to cease unsafe work
Explains when a trained HSR may direct unsafe work to cease and the training requirements for that power.
Schedule 2, Clause 12: HSR paid training leave
Explains the 2 days’ paid leave each year for HSR training and the training year.
Worker Engagement, Participation, and Representation Regulations 2016
Includes rules for work groups, HSR election timing, training access and maximum paid training days.
Regulation 6: 1 HSR for every 19 workers
Explains the default minimum ratio of Health and Safety Representatives to workers in a work group.
WorkSafe HSR guidance
WorkSafe guidance on HSR election processes, HSR training and HSR functions and powers.
Does every workplace need a Health and Safety Representative?
No. Not every workplace is automatically required to have a Health and Safety Representative.
A business can choose to have HSRs as part of its worker participation arrangements. However, a business must initiate an HSR election if a worker requests one.
This means HSRs are not only relevant to large or high-risk businesses. Businesses of all sizes should understand the HSR election process and be ready to respond if a worker requests an election.
Sources:
HSWA section 62 |
WorkSafe HSR and HSC FAQs
Are high-risk industries required to have an HSR?
Not automatically.
A workplace is not required to have an elected Health and Safety Representative simply because it operates in a high-risk industry.
The key trigger is a worker request. If a worker requests an HSR election, the PCBU must initiate an election for the relevant work group.
For most workplaces, including construction, manufacturing, civil, logistics, trades, healthcare, education, retail and office-based businesses, the general position is:
Is it compulsory for a business with 19 or more workers to have an HSR?
No. A business is not automatically required to have an HSR just because it has 19 or more workers.
The 1 HSR for every 19 workers rule helps determine how many HSRs may be needed for a work group once an election is required or chosen. It does not mean every business with 19 or more workers must automatically have an HSR.
When must a business hold an HSR election?
A PCBU must initiate an HSR election when a worker requests that one or more Health and Safety Representatives be elected.
The election must be initiated within 2 months of the PCBU receiving the worker’s request.
A business may also choose to initiate an HSR election without waiting for a worker request. This can be useful for organisations wanting to strengthen worker participation, improve consultation, or create a clearer health and safety structure.
Who can stand for election as an HSR?
- workers who are members of the relevant work group
- workers who are willing to act as an HSR
- workers who work regularly and for enough hours to act effectively as an HSR
Who can vote in an HSR election?
Workers who are members of the relevant work group can vote in the HSR election. The election relates to the work group, not necessarily the whole business.
What is a work group?
A work group is the group of workers that an HSR represents.
A work group may include all workers in the business, or it may be structured around different teams, sites, shifts, departments or types of work.
Examples of possible work groups
- one work group for all workers
- site-based work groups
- department-based work groups
- shift-based work groups
- mobile workforce groups
- trade or operational teams
- separate work groups for different risk profiles
- work groups across multiple PCBUs where workers work together
Work groups should be structured so workers are effectively represented and so the HSR is accessible to the workers they represent.
How many HSRs are required?
A business is not automatically required to have a Health and Safety Representative just because it has a certain number of workers or operates in a high-risk industry.
However, if a worker requests that one or more HSRs be elected, the PCBU must initiate an election for the relevant work group. A business may also choose to elect HSRs voluntarily as part of its worker participation practices.
Where a work group includes all workers in the business, the prescribed minimum ratio is 1 HSR for every 19 workers. If the number of workers does not divide evenly by 19, the number of HSRs is rounded up to the next whole number.
| Workers in the work group | Minimum HSRs if election is required or chosen |
|---|---|
| 1–19 workers | 1 HSR |
| 20–38 workers | 2 HSRs |
| 39–57 workers | 3 HSRs |
| 58–76 workers | 4 HSRs |
| 77–95 workers | 5 HSRs |
Does an HSR need to complete training?
An elected HSR can carry out HSR functions. However, only a trained HSR has access to certain additional powers.
Only HSRs who have successfully completed initial training can issue a Provisional Improvement Notice, often called a PIN, or direct unsafe work to cease.
What training should a new HSR complete?
A new or untrained HSR should complete initial Health and Safety Representative training. Initial HSR training helps Health and Safety Representatives understand their role, functions, powers and limits in a New Zealand workplace.
Health and Safety Representative Stage 1
NZQA Unit Standard 29315
What training should an experienced HSR complete?
After completing initial HSR training, many representatives benefit from further development in practical risk management and incident investigation.
Health and Safety Representative Stage 2
NZQA Unit Standards 30265 and 17601
HSR Stage 2 supports HSRs to:
- identify hazards
- assess workplace risk
- recommend suitable control measures
- monitor and review controls
- contribute to incident investigations
- understand immediate causes, underlying causes and root causes
- communicate findings clearly
- support practical health and safety improvement
What is the annual HSR training entitlement?
An elected Health and Safety Representative is entitled to paid leave for health and safety training.
The Health and Safety at Work Act provides that a PCBU must allow an elected HSR 2 days’ paid leave each year for the purpose of attending health and safety training, subject to the maximum total number of days the PCBU is required to allow across the whole business.
For HSR training entitlement, the training year runs from 1 April to 31 March.
Maximum paid HSR training days by business size
| Number of workers | Maximum total paid HSR training days |
|---|---|
| 1–5 workers | 2 days |
| 6–50 workers | 6 days |
| 51–280 workers | 1 day for every 8 workers or part of that number |
| 281 or more workers | 35 days plus 5 days for every 100 workers or part of that number |
Who pays for HSR training?
The PCBU must pay the HSR’s training fees and reasonable expenses related to attending training. This may include reasonable travel and accommodation costs where applicable.
The PCBU must also give the HSR access to training within the required timeframe. The regulations state that access to training must be provided no later than 3 months from the date the HSR requests training, subject to the maximum total paid training days that apply.
What support must a PCBU provide to an HSR?
A PCBU must support HSRs so they can carry out their role effectively.
This may include:
- consulting with HSRs about relevant health and safety matters
- allowing HSRs reasonable time to perform their functions
- providing necessary health and safety information
- providing resources, facilities and assistance that are reasonably necessary
- allowing HSRs to attend approved training
- responding appropriately to recommendations
- supporting worker participation and consultation
Practical checklist for businesses
Use this checklist to review your HSR arrangements:
- Do your workers know they can request an HSR election?
- Do you have a clear process for responding to an HSR election request?
- Can you identify the relevant work group or work groups?
- Do workers know who represents them on health and safety matters?
- Have elected HSRs completed initial HSR training?
- Are HSRs given time, resources and support to perform their role?
- Are HSRs involved when hazards are identified and risks are assessed?
- Do you have a process for receiving and responding to HSR recommendations?
- Are you tracking annual HSR training entitlement?
- Do experienced HSRs need further development in risk assessment or incident investigation?
- Are supervisors and managers clear on how to engage with HSRs?
- Are HSRs included in consultation when changes may affect workers’ health and safety?
Common mistakes businesses make with HSRs
- assuming small businesses do not need to respond to HSR election requests
- assuming high-risk workplaces automatically need HSRs without considering worker request and election requirements
- confusing the 1-in-19 ratio with an automatic requirement to have an HSR
- appointing someone as an HSR without a proper election
- failing to provide HSRs with time and support
- not understanding the annual paid training entitlement
- treating HSR training as optional once a trained HSR needs to exercise certain powers
- failing to consult HSRs when changes affect worker health and safety
- relying only on a Health and Safety Committee without considering HSR representation
Health and Safety Representative training pathway
Besafe Training provides practical Health and Safety Representative training for new and experienced HSRs.
HSR Stage 1
Best for: New or untrained Health and Safety Representatives.
NZQA: Unit Standard 29315.
Outcome: Understand the role, functions, powers and responsibilities of an HSR in a New Zealand workplace.
HSR Stage 2
Best for: HSRs who have completed initial training and want to build practical risk and investigation skills.
NZQA: Unit Standards 30265 and 17601.
Outcome: Apply practical risk assessment and incident investigation skills in the workplace.
HSR Refresher
Best for: Previously trained HSRs who want to refresh their knowledge and maintain confidence.
Outcome: Revisit key HSR responsibilities, worker participation, consultation and current expectations.
Company HSR Training
Best for: Employers booking training for multiple HSRs or wanting onsite delivery.
Outcome: Build consistent HSR capability across teams, sites and work groups.
Frequently asked questions about HSR requirements in New Zealand
Need help choosing the right HSR training?
Besafe Training can help your organisation choose the right training pathway for new HSRs, experienced representatives, refresher learners and company groups.
Whether you need initial HSR training, HSR Stage 2, refresher training or onsite company delivery, our team can help you select the right option.
