Critical Risk Register Generator

A critical risk register is a short document listing the hazards in your work that could realistically kill someone or cause serious harm — falls from height, electricity, asbestos, trench collapse — alongside the controls you use to manage each one. Under the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill (in force 1 April 2027), managing critical risks becomes the core health and safety duty for NZ businesses with 1–19 workers, replacing the expectation of paperwork covering every minor hazard. For most tradies it fits on one or two pages and takes minutes to prepare, review it annually and after any incident.

Yes, but a much simpler one. From 1 April 2027, businesses with 1–19 workers (for nine of the last twelve months) mainly need to manage critical risks and provide basic worker welfare — first aid, an emergency plan, and suitable facilities. You won't be expected to hold formal policies for low-consequence risks. A one-page critical risk register plus your welfare basics will cover the core duty for most small trade businesses. High-risk sectors may face extra requirements under the regulations still being developed.

The amended Act defines a critical risk as one likely to cause death, a notifiable injury or illness, a notifiable incident, or an occupational disease. For trades that typically means: falls from height (the biggest killer on NZ sites), contact with electricity, asbestos exposure in pre-2000 buildings, trench or excavation collapse, being struck by mobile plant, silica dust from cutting concrete or stone, confined spaces, structural or scaffold collapse, and hazardous substances. Occupational diseases count too — which is why silica dust and UV exposure belong on the register even though they harm slowly.

No — it's a practical starting document, not legal advice or a WorkSafe-approved template. The supporting regulations and Approved Codes of Practice for the amended Act are still being finalised through 2026–27. Once WorkSafe publishes ACOPs for specific risks, following those codes becomes a legal safe harbour (deemed compliance for that risk), so update your register and site practices to match each ACOP as it lands. Until 1 April 2027 the current Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 rules continue to apply in full.