Close out a WorkSafe improvement notice in New Zealand
An improvement notice identifies a breach or likely breach that an inspector expects to be remedied within a stated compliance period. A duty holder needs to understand the exact notice, act on the condition and preserve evidence that the remedy was implemented. A task marked “done” in a project board is not enough if the underlying hazard remains or the required action differs from what the notice says.
This guide concerns New Zealand WorkSafe inspector-issued improvement notices under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. WorkSafe's HSWA guide explains that the notice specifies a reasonable compliance period, must be displayed and may have that period extended by an inspector before it expires. Prohibition notices and provisional improvement notices have different processes; read the actual instrument and seek advice promptly where its meaning or review route is disputed.
Preserve the notice and its operative dates
Keep the full notice, issue date, addressee, location, provision, described breach or likely breach, required remedy and stated compliance period. Record any amendment, review or extension with its source and effective date. Do not change the deadline in a local tracker because someone expects an extension. Obtain the formal decision and keep the earlier notice in the history.
Identify the internal owner who can coordinate the physical correction, technical advice and communications. If the notice concerns a shared workplace, identify other PCBUs whose work or controls are affected. WorkSafe's contracting guidance explains coordination where duties overlap; the notice recipient should not assume a contractor's promise has completed the remedy.
Control the hazard while remedy is planned
Assess what immediate protection is needed. This may include stopping affected work, isolating plant, changing access or using an interim control. Record who authorised the temporary measure and how workers were told. An improvement notice is not a licence to keep exposing people to a risk until the final compliance date. Review whether other activities or sites share the same hazard.
Translate the notice into actions linked to the exact condition. If the remedy is a physical guard, keep design, installation and inspection evidence. If it is a process change, retain the revised procedure, training and observation of actual use. Do not replace a substantive control with a generic awareness session unless that genuinely addresses the identified breach.
Verify completion before declaring closeout
Use a reviewer with enough technical knowledge to inspect the new condition. Record the date, location, evidence, residual issue and decision. A purchase order or contractor invoice may show work was commissioned, not that the hazard was removed. If the remedy is incomplete or the deadline is at risk, escalate early and seek appropriate regulatory advice; do not backdate a closeout record.
Keep communication with the inspector or regulator separate from internal task status. A company may believe its action is complete, but should retain any required correspondence or confirmation and avoid claiming that WorkSafe has “approved” the remedy unless that actually happened. Preserve the original notice and all submissions so a later reviewer can trace what was said and when.
Make the evidence understandable
Organise the file by notice reference, condition, interim control, permanent work, verification, worker communication and regulator correspondence. Include photographs with dates and equipment identifiers. If a procedure was revised, keep its previous version and the new one. A reviewer should be able to answer whether the corrected condition matches the place and activity named in the notice.
After closeout, check effectiveness during ordinary work. A guard installed before an inspection can be bypassed if it prevents the normal task. Record the follow-up and reopen the internal action if the control fails. This later check is not a substitute for meeting the notice within the compliance period; it is a way to ensure the remedy persists.
Example: unguarded access to machinery
An inspector issues a notice about access to a moving part. The duty holder isolates the machine, obtains a suitable guard design, installs and tests it, updates maintenance instructions and briefs affected workers. The closeout file links the notice to the specific machine, installation evidence, technical check, communication and date of return to service. A photo of a different guarded machine or a training attendance sheet alone would not prove compliance.
The mapped Complys NZ health and safety page is the product page for record evaluation. The existing HSWA PCBU duties guide covers broad duty coordination; this page owns the notice-to-remedy evidence task. No software is said to obtain WorkSafe approval or determine legal compliance.
Separate legal response from management learning
The immediate task is to meet the notice's actual requirement within the operative period. A wider review can then ask why the breach arose and whether other locations share the weakness. Do not delay the required remedy while designing a broad improvement programme. Equally, do not treat a one-time repair as proof that the same failure will not recur. Track those two work streams with different owners and dates.
When the notice is displayed and employees are informed, record where and when this occurred. If the work area is remote or several shifts are affected, check that the information reached the people who need it. Preserve the displayed notice and subsequent updates in the file. A completion photograph should show the relevant location and equipment; metadata and witness confirmation may help when the date or identity of an image is disputed.