The Notifiable Occupational Disease System (NODS) is a voluntary system used to notify the Department of Labour of a health problem that may have been caused by work.
Anyone (eg. self, doctor, nurse, parent) can make a notification by completing the NODS notification form and returning it to their nearest regional office. The form is available as a pdf file from the Department of Labour website www.dol.govt.nz

A NODS notification helps protect the health of all persons in a workplace as it:

• Highlights a workplace activity that may have caused harm
• Assists an affected individual
• Ensures other employees receive medical screening and if necessary treatment
• Helps to prevent other employees being harmed

When the Department of Labour regional office receives a NODS notification, it will assign a health and safety inspector to the case. The inspector, together with a Departmental Medical Practitioner will review the information provided in the notification and may investigate the workplace. Any link between the workplace exposure and the health of the affected person can then be assessed by the Department Medical Practitioner.

Further information is provided in the Department of Labour publication: What you need to know about: Notifiable Occupational Disease System (NODS) See also functions of a Health and Safety Inspector and Making anonymous complaints