The Government has announced new regulations aimed at improving the safety of Aotearoa's adventure activities, the latest move in the wake of the Whakaari/White Island eruption in December 2019.
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood announced the changes, which will "support WorkSafe to take a stronger monitoring and enforcement role" after the agency was probed following the eruption.
The new measure include:
- Specific requirements for operators' assessment and management of natural hazard risks.
- Stronger requirements for operators to communicate risks to customers.
- A robust register of operators' activities and near-misses.
- A review and update for safety guidelines.
"Adventure activities are a big draw card to New Zealand for international tourists, resulting in significant economic opportunities for our regions," Wood said. "For our economic security it is vital that provide a positive and ultimately safe experience.
"These changes will result in clearer, more consistent standards for what organisations providing adventure activities must do to manage risks."
But some operators aren't sure what the regulations will mean for them and want more support to navigate the system.
"The key goal of the entire regulation is to make the industry safer and to ensure that it's safe for participants, and I think the industry needs support to do that," said Jamie Mead, General Manager of Operations at Redwoods Altitude in Rotorua.
"I think there hasn't been support in the past to help operators that may not be particularly legislative-savvy to find their way through."
Mead believes that adventure activity providers need to be given a chance to ask questions before it's too late.
"Put the support first, the prosecution comes later for people that haven't complied."
Wood said Worksafe will be working with the industry to implement the changes, which will be rolled out by the end of next year.
"Most adventure activity operators are already following good practice and will only need to make minor adjustments to their safety systems," he said. "The aim of these changes is to help standardise these good practices and spread them across the sector.
"Making improvements to the regulatory regime for adventure activities is one area of change to help prevent injury and loss of life in the future."
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