Section 7 — Health and Safety at Work Act 2015: Application of Act to Armed Forces

7 Application of Act to Armed Forces (1) Nothing in this Act requires or permits a person to take any action, or to refrain from taking any action, that would be, or could reasonably be expected to be, prejudicial to the defence of New Zealand. (2) Subject to this section, section 13 , and any regulations made under section 213 , this Act applies to the Armed Forces and any military aircraft or naval ship. (3) This Act does not apply to— (a) a worker who— (i) is a member of the Armed Forces while the worker is carrying out any operational activity; or (ii) is carrying out work for the Armed Forces at a place outside New Zealand at which the Armed Forces are carrying out any operational activity: (b) any military aircraft or naval ship operating in an area in which the deployment of the aircraft or ship is an operational activity. (4) In this section, operational activity — (a) means— (i) any service in time of war or other like emergency or in the event of any actual or imminent emergency involving the deployment of the Armed Forces overseas: (ii) any other service carried out by the Armed Forces overseas that is authorised by the Government of New Zealand and that involves peacekeeping, the maintenance or restoration of law and order or the functioning of government institutions, or any other activity in respect of which the Government of New Zealand wishes to provide assistance (whether or not in conjunction with personnel from 1 or more other countries): (iii) any service or activity or class of service or activity (whether carried out in New Zealand or overseas) that is declared under subsection (5) to be an operational activity for the purposes of this section; and (b) includes any training carried out (whether in New Zealand or overseas) directly in preparation for any specific operational activity within the meaning of paragraph (a)(i) to (iii). (5) The Chief of Defence Force may, by notice in writing, declare any service or activity or class of service or activity to be an operational activity for the purposes of this section. (6) As soon as practicable after making a declaration under subsection (5), the Chief of Defence Force must— (a) give written notice of the declaration to the Minister of Defence; and (b) provide a copy of the notice to the regulator. (7) A declaration made under subsection (5) must be published on an Internet site maintained by or on behalf of the New Zealand Defence Force. (8) A declaration made under subsection (5) is neither a legislative instrument nor a disallowable instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2012 and does not have to be presented to the House of Representatives under section 41 of that Act. (9) In commanding the New Zealand Defence Force, the Chief of Defence Force must take into account the need to promote the purpose of this Act to the greatest extent consistent with maintaining the defence of New Zealand. Compare: Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Aust) s 12D