Consultation on the Approved Code Of Practice for Youth in the entertainment industry
The Department of Labour is seeking input for the proposed Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) for Youth in the Entertainment Industry.
The reason for the proposed ACOP is to align with the changes to the HSE Regulations to include young people doing in contract work
From 1 April 2009 the age restrictions on hazardous work (below age 15) and night work (below age 16) that already apply to employees will now cover young people working as independent contractors.
Last year, Government amended the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995, placing new duties on principals. The duties are similar to longstanding duties that employers already have to protect young people who are still developing physically and mentally. The duties restrict young people under 15 from working in high-hazard workplaces (such as construction, logging, and manufacturing sites) and doing work that is likely to injure them (such as working with machinery, driving heavy work vehicles, and lifting heavy loads). They also restrict young people under 16 from working at night (between 10pm and 6am) unless the work is done in accordance with an approved code of practice.
This code specifically relates to youth working in the entertainment industry at night.
The Department is committed to ensuring all young people experience fair and productive work in safe and healthy workplaces. These changes help provide young people doing contract work with similar protections to other young workers.
The changes are not expected to have widespread impact on businesses, as Departmental research showed few young people under 15 working as contractors except for pamphlet delivery work.
Public consultation
The Department welcomes your comments on this draft document. It is available as both HTML and PDF below.
If you wish to provide feedback, please complete the Youth ACOP Response Form [DOC, 5 Pages, 493kB] and return it by email or post to:
Demi Naylor
Senior Advisor, Standard Setting
Department of Labour
PO Box 3705
Wellington 6140
Email: demi.naylor@dol.govt.nz
Responses are due by 5pm on Friday 19th June 2009.