What are the health and safety law changes for NZ landscapers?

From 1 April 2027, landscaping and tree-work businesses with 1–19 workers will mainly need to manage critical risks plus basic worker welfare (first aid, emergency plan, facilities). The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill passed on 1 July 2026. For the trade, critical risks are chainsaw and power-tool injuries, being struck by mobile plant, tree work at height, contact with overhead power lines, trench and retaining-wall excavation collapse, lone work on remote sites, and UV exposure. Approved Codes of Practice become a legal safe harbour. Current rules apply in full until commencement.

Is chainsaw work a critical risk under the new law?

Unambiguously yes. Chainsaw injuries produce exactly the outcomes the critical-risk definition targets — amputation-grade cuts and fatal bleeds are notifiable injuries at minimum. Controls stay what good operators already do: guards and chain brakes functional, trained operators only, chaps, eye and ear protection, and no ground crew inside the drop zone during felling. Best Practice Guidelines for tree work continue to apply, and if WorkSafe publishes an ACOP covering chainsaw or arboriculture work under the new safe-harbour regime, following it will constitute deemed compliance for that risk.

How does the working-at-height change affect arborists?

Tree climbing sits outside the scaffold-vs-ladder debate that drives most of the height reform — climbing arborists already work under rope-and-harness systems governed by industry best practice. What the risk-based hierarchy does is validate that approach in law: controls matched to the actual risk of the task, documented through risk assessment. For landscapers doing occasional height work — pergolas, structures, hedge platforms — short-duration low-risk tasks won't automatically demand scaffolding from April 2027. The working-at-height ACOP being developed will set the detail; until then current WorkSafe guidance applies.

What about working near power lines?

Contact with overhead electric lines is one of the deadliest risks in tree work and remains fully critical under the new definition. The Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003 are untouched by this reform — minimum approach distances still apply, and work within four metres of live conductors still requires the line owner's consent and, in most cases, a competent utility arborist. Your critical risk register should treat lines work as its own entry: identify lines before quoting, apply minimum approach distances, and use qualified operators for anything near conductors.

What should a small landscaping business do before April 2027?

Most landscaping firms are well under 20 workers, so the simplified regime applies to nearly the whole industry. Build a critical risk register covering chainsaws, plant, tree work, power lines, excavations and lone work — then brief it, including seasonal and casual staff, who are statistically your highest-risk workers. Keep welfare basics in place: first aid on the truck matters more in this trade than most because sites are remote and solo work is common; a check-in system for lone workers is a critical control, not a nice-to-have. And work to current rules until 1 April 2027 — WorkSafe enforcement continues unchanged through the transition.

Health & Safety Changes for NZ Landscapers 2026-27

Landscaping and tree work kill and maim through machinery, not paperwork gaps: chainsaws, chippers, diggers, falling timber, live power lines. The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill — passed 1 July 2026, in force 1 April 2027 — restructures compliance for small firms around exactly those risks and strips back the rest.

What changes for landscapers and arborists

Critical risks become the core duty (1–19 workers). The trade's critical list:

Chainsaws and power tools — amputation and fatal-bleed injuries
Mobile plant — diggers, loaders, chippers, truck movements
Tree work at height — felling, climbing, rigging
Overhead power lines — minimum approach distances, utility arborist requirements
Excavation and retaining-wall collapse
Lone and remote work — an injury becomes fatal when nobody knows you're down
UV exposure — outdoor workers carry an occupational skin-cancer risk

All pre-loaded for landscapers in the free Critical Risk Register Generator.

Welfare duties continue — and matter more in this trade. First aid, emergency plans and facilities stay mandatory. On remote sites with chainsaw work, the first aid kit and the lone-worker check-in system are the difference between an injury and a fatality.

ACOPs become a safe harbour. Following a published Approved Code of Practice means deemed compliance for that risk — watch for codes relevant to plant, height and tree work as WorkSafe publishes them through 2026–27.

What doesn't change

Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003 — approach distances and line-owner consent rules are untouched.
Plant and structures regulations, chainsaw best-practice guidelines — all continue.
Notifiable events — still reported to WorkSafe.
Until 1 April 2027 — the current Act applies in full.

What to do now

Generate and print the critical risk register; brief every worker, including seasonal casuals.
Put a lone-worker check-in system in place if you don't have one — phone or PLB, plus someone who acts when a check-in is missed.
Adopt each ACOP as it's released.

Scoping earthworks or retaining jobs? Pair the register with the earthworks calculator and retaining wall calculator. Full reform picture: 2026 H&S law changes hub. Local trade contacts: landscapers directory.

H&S Law Changes for NZ Landscapers & Arborists — What Changes in 2027

What changes for landscapers and arborists

What doesn't change

What to do now

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