Health & Safety Manual (NZ)

Prequalification schemes and main contractors do not fail businesses for lacking good intentions. They fail them for having a policy with nothing underneath it — no documented procedure for how a hazard gets identified, how an incident gets reported, how a contractor gets checked before they start, how an emergency is run. This manual supplies that layer. It is deliberately written to be edited down rather than up: fourteen procedures, each self-contained, each mapping to a duty, so a business with eight staff can delete what does not apply without breaking the structure.

Who this is for

Businesses applying for SiteWise or Tōtika

The documented-system layer that prequalification questionnaires probe hardest.

Subcontractors moving to their own H&S system

The step from working under a main contractor's system to running your own — the Kōwhai position under HSWA.

Growing trade businesses

Usually needed somewhere between ten and thirty staff, when informal practice stops scaling.

Businesses tendering for public work

Councils and government agencies routinely require a documented H&S management system as a condition of tender.

What's inside the template

Word — 62 pages across 14 procedures plus appendices · Formats: DOCX

• P01 — System scope and structureWhat the system covers, how the documents relate, document control and version rules.
• P02 — Responsibilities and accountabilitiesPCBU, officer, manager, supervisor, worker and contractor responsibilities as a single schedule.hswa 44
• P03 — Hazard identification and risk managementTrigger, method, control hierarchy, register maintenance and verification cycle.grwm 5
• P04 — Risk assessment methodThe rating method and the reasonably-practicable test, stated once so all assessments are consistent.grwm 6
• P05 — Incident reporting, notification and investigationReporting route, notifiable-event determination, site preservation, investigation triggers and record retention.
• P06 — Emergency preparedness and responseEmergency plan requirements, roles, testing cycle and worker instruction.grwm 14
• P07 — First aidAssessment of first aid needs, facilities, kits and trained personnel.grwm 13
• P08 — Worker engagement, participation and representationEngagement mechanism, HSR arrangements where elected, and how outcomes are fed back.hswa 61
• P09 — Training, competence and inductionCompetence matrix, induction content, refresher intervals and record keeping.
• P10 — Contractor and subcontractor managementSelection, verification, onboarding, monitoring and the overlapping-duty conversation.hswa 34
• P11 — Plant, equipment and PPEPre-use checks, maintenance, defect reporting, PPE selection and fit.
• P12 — Hazardous substancesInventory, SDS access, storage, signage and disposal, with the link to the hazardous substances register.
• P13 — Health monitoring and occupational healthWhen monitoring is required, who arranges it, how results are handled and stored.grwm 9
• P14 — Review, audit and continual improvementInternal audit schedule, management review agenda, corrective action tracking.
• Appendix A — Document registerEvery form, register and record the system uses, with owner and retention period.
• Appendix B — Competence matrix templateRole against required training, with expiry tracking.
• Appendix C — Internal audit checklistProcedure-by-procedure audit prompts.
• Appendix D — Implementation guideWhat to do in the first thirty days, and what can wait.

HSWA 2015 ss.34, 36, 44, 61 · GRWM Regulations 2016 regs 5–7, 9, 13, 14

Each procedure exists because a duty requires the outcome it produces. This mapping is what a prequalification assessor is looking for when they ask how your system works.

1. s36Primary duty of care so far as is reasonably practicable→ P03, P04 — the system through which the duty is discharged
2. s44Officer due diligence — six elements→ P02 and P14 — resourcing, verification and review
3. s34Consult, cooperate and coordinate with other PCBUs where duties overlap→ P10 — Contractor and subcontractor management
4. ss.61–62Engage with workers and have effective participation practices→ P08 — Worker engagement, participation and representation
5. GRWM reg 5Identify hazards giving rise to reasonably foreseeable risks→ P03 — Hazard identification and risk management
6. GRWM regs 6–7Apply and maintain the hierarchy of control measures→ P04 and P14
7. GRWM reg 9Health monitoring where required→ P13 — Health monitoring and occupational health
8. GRWM reg 13Duty to provide first aid→ P07 — First aid
9. GRWM reg 14Prepare, maintain and implement an emergency plan→ P06 — Emergency preparedness and response

How this template compares

Reviewed by OH Professionals

Written and reviewed by the occupational health and safety team at OH Consultant. The manual is deliberately built to be reduced rather than extended — a business with eight staff can delete six procedures and still have a coherent system, because each one is self-contained and separately duty-mapped. Systems that only work at full size are the reason most small-business H&S manuals sit unopened.

Legislation referenced

• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 — Section 34 — Duty of PCBUs to consult, cooperate, and coordinate ↗
• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 — Section 36 — Primary duty of care ↗
• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 — Section 44 — Officer due diligence ↗
• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 — Section 61 — Duty to engage with workers ↗
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 — Regulation 5 — Duty to identify hazards ↗
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 — Regulation 6 — Hierarchy of control measures ↗
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 — Regulation 13 — Duty to provide first aid ↗
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 — Regulation 14 — Duty to prepare, maintain, and implement emergency plan ↗

Frequently asked

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