Amendment lends Clarification to Health and Safety Law

Tuesday 3 March 1998

Parliament today passed an amendment to the Health and Safety in Employment Act to clarify the duties of employers and other people with control of places of work in relation to people who visit the workplace for purposes unrelated to the normal work activity.

"The government was concerned that farmers through out the country were restricting access to their land and there was arguments that a legislative rather than administrative solution was required," said Minister of Labour Max Bradford

"The amendment will clarify the duties that a person in control of the place of work has to non-workers. In particular, this will spell out that farmers do not have duties to persons using their land for recreational or leisure purposes unless they have given express consent to those persons to be on their land," Mr Bradford said.