2022 February 07
WorkSafe has been flexing its enforcement muscles when it finds repeated and deliberate breaches of COVID-19 Protection Framework requirements.
In late December, the health and safety regulator issued an infringement notice to a martial arts and fitness centre in Auckland for knowingly allowing unvaccinated staff to carry out work. The infringement notice carries a significant fee of $12,000. The gym had continued to operate in breach of the COVID-19 Protection Framework rules and made their stance known on social media and in comments to media organisations.
WorkSafe also issued three infringement notices to a restaurant for breaching multiple COVID-19 requirements. These included failing to display signage signalling whether the business required the use of “My Vaccine Pass” in a prominent place, failing to display a QR Code in a prominent place and not having systems or processes in place to check the “My Vaccine Pass” status of patrons. The combined infringement notice fees totalled $20,000.
WorkSafe commented that: “When a concern is raised with WorkSafe we first look to talk to the business and check what they’re doing and if their practices are correct. If there’s a gap in their understanding, we work with them to fix it and that’s normally the end of the matter. It takes a sustained period of observed non-compliance for us to
escalate…”.
There is extensive guidance available for businesses on their legal obligations under the “traffic light” COVID-19 Protection Framework.
Article courtesy of Vero Liability