Scaffolding rules set for overhaul under health and safety reforms

Monday, 28 July 2025

Health and safety rules have increasingly discouraged the use of cheap options such as ladders when working at heights, but that may be about to change.

Builders and other tradespeople will not need to erect scaffolding in some situations where that is currently necessary, under new health and safety rules proposed by the Government.

The changes, which have yet to be worked out in detail, could reduce the cost of some types of building and maintenance work, so long as any economies weren’t offset by increased injury costs.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said the rules now in place had led to a common view that scaffolding should be used “in all situations regardless of risk”.

But Clive Doubleday, a former safety inspector with 40 years’ experience in the industry, urged caution about any changes.

Brooke van Velden’s efforts to overhaul health and safety laws to reduce what she has described as red tape and ‘over-compliance’ has got a second wind.

“I have investigated too many fatal accidents from scaffolding. The regulations have been tightened over the years because of the coffin count.”

One argument for the previous tightening of rules was a concern that when competing for work, in order to win bids, tradespeople might feel pressured into accepting whatever the cheapest option was that any bidder was willing to allow, regardless of what they themselves considered safe.

The Scaffolding, Access and Rigging Association (Sarnz) estimated in 2015 that tighter guidelines around working at heights introduced in 2011 had the resulted in 90 fewer deaths and severe injuries a year and would save the economy $1.1 billion over 25 years as a result of “improved productivity, reduced sick leave and lower healthcare costs”.

Van Velden said the rules has resulted in the overuse of costly scaffolding when it was’t required for safety.

“Over-compliance needlessly drags down construction productivity, increasing building time and costs for the sector and impacting new builds and Kiwi home-owners.”

She said officials would consult on proposed new rules that would “let people choose safe options based on how dangerous the job is”.

“If it’s not very risky, they will not need to use expensive scaffolding,” she said.

“For example, they will be considering whether a ladder could be used instead of scaffolding for a simple roof gutter repair or minor electrical maintenance when working at height.”

Van Velden indicated she did not expect the changes that flowed from the consultations would result in practices reverting right back to how they had been in the past, before rules were tightened.

The culture in New Zealand and the expectations of employees had changed in recent years, she said.

State-owned accident insurer ACC would be consulted down the track on any proposals before they were decided on by Cabinet, she made clear.

The weighting she gave to ACC’s advice would depend on the information that was given, she said.

“I'm really interested, firstly, in hearing directly from the industry.”

Businesses wanted “absolutes” but that was not always possible, Doubleday said, as even a fall from a metre could be fatal if that was onto a steel reinforcing bar.

One case he investigated involved a 17 year-old plumber’s apprentice who slipped off a roof on single story house on a cold day, and was permanently disabled, he said.

Sarnz chief executive Tina Wieczorek was guarded, saying the principle that safety could not be “traded for cost-cutting” should be front of mind.

“They all haunt me.”

Van Velden said one risk of the current regime was that the costs involved in calling in a professional could tempt home-owners to do some maintenance jobs unsafely themselves, given that the rules did not apply to them.

Sarnz chief executive Tina Wieczorek said it supported “a sensible review of the regulations to ensure they remain fit for purpose and risk-based, without compromising safety”.

But framing the cost of scaffolding as a driver of building costs “oversimplifies the issue and risks undermining the critical role that scaffolding plays in keeping workers safe”, she said.

“Safety cannot be traded for cost-cutting and any changes must keep this principle front of mind.”

Wieczorek called on the Government to implement “plant and structures” reforms drafted by the former government, which she said had been well consulted on.

“If the minister genuinely wants to address the concerns she has raised, progressing these reforms is the most effective way forward.”

Van Velden also indicated there would be changes to the qualifications required in the scaffolding industry — of which Sarnz was supportive —with more recognition of “on the job experience” .

The new rules could take effect from next April, she said.

More health and safety announcements are expected from the Government in the coming days.

They follow a raft of sometimes controversial reforms announced over the course of a week in April that included a change to exempt small businesses from some regulations over which ACC did voice concerns.