THE REGULATIONS

Cabinet has approved regulations to improve safety in the commercial adventure tourism and outdoor education industries, which will come into effect on 1 November 2011. Read the Minister of Labour’s statement.

The regulations sit under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 requiring commercial adventure tourism and outdoor education operators in New Zealand who provide activities that are designed to deliberately expose participants to a managed risk of serious harm, to undergo a safety audit and be registered.

More information on the regulations and a Q&A for operators is available.

From 1 November 2011 affected operators have six months to notify the Department of Labour about their operation. This is a simple process and you are now able to do this online or via post or fax.

Operators will then have three years until November 2014 to ensure they are audited and registered unless the Department of Labour asks them to complete an audit at an earlier time. More information on the safety audit standard will be available in early 2012.

Online Notification Form

You can:

• Submit an Adventure Activities Operator's Notification form online

• Download the notification form and post or fax it to 04 915 4370.