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NZ Notifiable Events: Preserve the Site Safely

September 29, 2026·12 min read

A serious event has just happened at work. Someone needs help, a machine is still energised and colleagues want to clear the area so operations can restart. The site-preservation duty does not require anyone to leave a person in danger. It does require the PCBU that manages or controls the workplace to take all reasonable steps to avoid disturbing the site of a notifiable event until an inspector authorises it, subject to express exceptions for rescue, safety and other permitted action.

Section 55 of New Zealand's Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 sets the duty and exceptions. WorkSafe's notifiable-events guidance explains that involved plant, substances and other things should remain where they are, while work may continue elsewhere if it does not interfere with the scene. This guide helps a site lead make the first operational decisions and keep a clear account of necessary actions. It does not determine from a short description whether a particular event legally meets the notifiable threshold.

The sequence matters: help people, control immediate danger, prevent unnecessary disturbance, notify the appropriate regulator and obtain permission before returning the affected site to normal work. These actions may overlap in time. Do not wait for an internal report to be complete before contacting emergency services or the regulator when required.

Who has the site-preservation duty?

Section 55 places the specific preservation duty on the PCBU who manages or controls the workplace where the notifiable event occurred. A worker or contractor at the scene should follow reasonable directions that protect people and preserve evidence, but the statutory subsection names the PCBU with workplace management or control. At a shared site, identify who manages or controls the relevant workplace and coordinate quickly with other PCBUs. Do not assume that the company employing the injured person automatically controls the site.

Consider a contractor working inside a client's production area. The contractor may have its own duties to workers and a duty to notify arising from its business, while the client or a principal contractor may manage or control the workplace for section 55 purposes. The exact allocation depends on the real arrangement. Notify the relevant site control person, preserve the affected area and coordinate information without waiting for a dispute about whose logo is on the incident form. The Act's PCBU coordination provisions provide the broader duty context.

The duty arises for a notifiable event, a defined work-related death, notifiable injury or illness, or notifiable incident. WorkSafe explains the categories in its current guide. Do not treat every minor incident as legally notifiable, but do not clear the scene merely because a supervisor has not yet finished classifying the event. If the facts could meet a threshold, protect the site while the decision and regulator contact are made. That is a prudent interim process, not an assertion that every incident triggers section 55.

Other statutes or sector regulators can matter. WorkSafe's guide notes that a designated agency may be the regulator for some work, including specified maritime and aviation contexts. The Act also excludes section 55 where an event is being investigated under the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971 or the Transport Accident Investigation Commission Act 1990. Do not generalise this workplace guide to those contexts without checking the relevant regulator and the precise law.

What counts as the site?

The site is not necessarily just a marked square on the floor. Section 55, subsection 5 includes any plant, substance, structure or thing associated with the notifiable event. A forklift, lifting attachment, scaffold component, container, guard, tool, damaged cable or control setting may be part of the site even if it is moved away from the exact point where someone was injured.

Ask what could explain the event. What equipment was in use? Which controls were set? What materials were present? Where did the person, vehicle or load travel? Which nearby area was exposed? Draw the preservation boundary around the associated scene and things, not around the easiest available tape line. If the event involved a moving vehicle, the relevant site may include its position, route, load and nearby objects. If it involved a chemical release, involved containers and equipment may matter. This is an evidence-preservation consideration, not a fixed geometric rule.

WorkSafe advises that the work setup should not be changed, involved plant and substances should stay where they are, work that could interfere with the scene should stop and alterations to involved plant, vehicles or structures should not be made. That is regulator guidance on applying the law. It helps turn the statutory phrase “all reasonable steps” into workable site instructions. If safety requires action that changes the scene, use the statutory exception and record what changed and why.

Keep people out of the affected area as needed. Tell responders, contractors, cleaners and maintenance staff which items are involved. A well-intended cleanup can remove evidence before an inspector sees it. A person arriving on the next shift may not know an apparently idle machine is part of a preserved site. Mark the boundary and nominate a contact who can explain the restriction.

Rescue and immediate safety come first

Section 55, subsection 2 expressly allows action to assist an injured person, remove a deceased person, make the site safe or minimise the risk of a further notifiable event. It also allows action by or under the direction of a constable carrying out duties and action permitted by an inspector or the regulator. These are exceptions to the preservation restriction, not a general licence to restore production or tidy the scene.

If someone is injured, summon emergency help and provide appropriate assistance. If a machine presents an immediate electrical, mechanical or fire risk, isolate it in the way essential to make the site safe. If a leaking substance threatens further harm, take the necessary safe action to contain it. Do not hesitate because the site might be evidence. The exception exists so necessary rescue and risk reduction can occur.

Keep the action proportionate to its purpose. Isolating power may be essential; dismantling the entire machine before an inspector is contacted usually needs a separate justification or permission. Moving a casualty may be necessary; rearranging unrelated materials is not part of that rescue. Containing a spill may be essential; scrubbing every trace from the area may not be. The precise intervention depends on the hazard. This guide cannot instruct a particular responder to enter an unsafe space or select an engineering control.

As soon as practical, record the action. Note who acted, when, what immediate danger was present, what was moved or altered, and where the item went. Photographing or marking a position can help if it is safe and does not delay rescue. A person should never pause urgent aid to complete a form. The later record simply helps explain why a statutory exception was used and what the original scene contained.

Emergency services and police may also direct action. The constable exception is about an act done by or under a constable's direction in executing duties. A casual suggestion from someone outside that statutory role is not the same thing. If the regulator or inspector gives permission to disturb the site, record who gave it, when, the scope and any conditions.

Hold the affected work, not automatically the whole business

WorkSafe says work may continue in other parts of the workplace where it does not disturb the site. That is an important operational boundary. A notifiable event in one isolated production bay does not automatically establish that every unrelated office activity must cease until an inspector visits. Equally, another team should not keep operating a shared conveyor, ventilation system or access route if doing so changes the event scene or creates further danger.

Before authorising unaffected work, check whether the activity could move equipment, disturb substances, overwrite data or alter conditions associated with the event. Could a cleaning crew enter the area? Could a vehicle pass over marks? Could a control system log be overwritten by restart? Could vibration or shared utilities affect damaged plant? These are questions for the site lead to consider, not a universal list of legal prohibitions.

Communicate the restriction to each shift and contractor. Tell them which area and equipment are out of use, who can grant access and how urgent safety issues should be reported. Do not rely only on a handwritten sign if multiple access points exist. If preservation extends across a handover, the incoming lead should know the original event, current hazard controls, allowed activity, regulator contact and any permission already given.

The preserved boundary may need adjustment as facts emerge. If an associated piece of plant is discovered outside the first cordon, include it. If an inspector defines a different boundary, follow that direction. Record the change to the boundary and the reason. Do not quietly shrink it because a client asks for production to resume.

Notify separately from preserving the site

Site preservation is not the notification itself. Section 56 requires a PCBU to ensure the regulator is notified as soon as possible after becoming aware of a notifiable event arising from its business or undertaking, using the fastest possible means in the circumstances. Check the correct regulator for the activity. WorkSafe provides a notification guide and channels.

The notification should not be delayed until every detail is certain. Explain what is known and what remains under investigation. Record the time and channel of notification, the person contacted and any reference number or response. If the regulator requests further written information, follow that instruction. Contacting emergency services alone does not necessarily satisfy the statutory regulator notification duty.

The PCBU managing or controlling the workplace may have the section 55 preservation duty, while more than one PCBU can have notification responsibilities in relation to the same event. Coordinate so the regulator receives accurate information and no one assumes another organisation has made the required contact. A site lead can keep a simple contact log that identifies who made each notification and what the regulator said about the site.

Section 57 requires a PCBU to keep a record of each notifiable event for at least five years from the date notice was given to the regulator. That is a separate recordkeeping duty. This guide does not turn it into an invented rule that every photograph or working note has precisely the same retention period. Preserve relevant material under the applicable law, regulator directions and the organisation's legal hold or record process.

Obtain authority before normal work resumes at the site

The section 55 duty continues until an inspector authorises disturbance of the site, unless a statutory exception applies to a specific action. Do not treat the absence of an inspector on the first day as permission to resume. A manager's view that the area now looks safe addresses one question but does not by itself release the preservation duty.

Ask the regulator or inspector how authorisation will be given and which parts of the scene it covers. An inspector might release one area while another item or plant remains preserved. The site lead should record the name, time, means of communication, precise scope and conditions. If the instruction is unclear, seek clarification before restarting the affected activity. A generic “WorkSafe called” note does not identify what was permitted.

After authorisation, complete a separate safety assessment before restart. Release of the evidence-preservation restriction does not certify that damaged plant is safe, that a control has been repaired or that workers are competent to resume. A relevant person should inspect the hazard, repair or isolate defects, update controls and communicate any new procedure. Keep the inspector's site-release decision separate from the operational return-to-service decision.

If an urgent safety action is needed while waiting, use the exception only to the extent essential to make safe or minimise further notifiable-event risk, or obtain specific permission. Explain the need and record the disturbance. Avoid using a broad safety label to justify restoring ordinary operations when a narrower intervention would control the hazard.

A first-hour handover that preserves the right facts

In the first hour, a nominated coordinator can maintain a short chronology. Start with the event time, people assisted and immediate hazards. Add the affected area, involved plant and substances, rescue or safety changes, access controls, regulator notification, site contacts and any inspector direction. Distinguish observations from assumptions. Someone may say a machine guard was open, but the coordinator should record whether that was directly observed, reported by a witness or discovered after an essential safety intervention.

Keep the original state where possible. Record a later correction as a new entry rather than silently changing the chronology. Photographs and witness accounts can help explain the scene, but collecting them must not interfere with rescue, privacy or regulator activity. The purpose is to avoid losing what happened and why something was moved, not to run an amateur investigation before WorkSafe can act.

At shift change, hand over the boundary, hazards, prohibited activity, permitted safety actions, regulator reference and authority status. If a contractor controls an involved item, tell that contractor the preservation restriction and coordinate safe custody. Do not assume that a subcontractor's own incident software will alert every person who might enter the area.

The live New Zealand notifiable-work and notifiable-events guide covers the broader distinction between advance notice of certain work and notification after an event. This page addresses the narrower, immediate decision about the site. For the general PCBU duty context, see HSWA duties. If you are assessing Complys for incident workflows, ask to see the current New Zealand product and verify the actual functions against your process. Do not assume software notifies the regulator, preserves physical evidence or authorises a restart.

Recheck this guide if sections 55 to 57 change, WorkSafe revises its notifiable-event guidance, or a relevant sector regulator changes its instructions. The working rule stays straightforward: assist people and make the site safe, protect the associated scene, tell the correct regulator promptly and wait for proper authority before normal work disturbs the affected site.