Adventure Activity Regulations — What Changed in 2024
Key changes from the Adventure Activities Amendment Regulations 2023, effective April 2024 — new registration process, risk disclosure requirements, natural hazard additions, and enhanced WorkSafe powers.
Adventure Activities Regulations — 2024 Changes
From 1 April 2024, the Adventure Activities Amendment Regulations 2023 came into force, making significant changes to the Health and Safety at Work (Adventure Activities) Regulations 2016.
Key Changes to the Regulations
Registration process:
Applicants now apply directly to the Registrar of Adventure Activities (WorkSafe) for registration and renewal after completing safety audit requirements. Previously this went through an intermediary step.
Risk disclosure:
Operators must now take reasonable steps to tell people looking to participate in their adventure activities what the risks are. A written risk disclosure document at the booking or arrival stage satisfies this requirement.
Stronger enforcement powers:
WorkSafe can now:
- Suspend registration immediately if there is an urgent safety concern
- Cancel and refuse registration
- Impose conditions on a registration in the interests of safety
Natural hazard incidents are now notifiable events — operators must report to WorkSafe when a natural hazard (flooding, landslip, earthquake, volcanic activity) creates a notifiable situation during an activity.
Key Changes in the Safety Audit Standard
- Natural hazards must now be explicitly considered in risk management planning — this is a specific requirement, not an option
- Operators must have a clear go/no-go policy for conditions including natural hazards
- Technical Advisors have new requirements around natural hazard expertise
Why These Changes Were Made
The Whakaari/White Island tragedy in December 2019 — in which 22 people died when the volcano erupted during a tourist visit — directly drove these regulatory changes. The changes strengthen the adventure activities regulatory function and specifically address natural hazard risk management.
What You Need to Do
- Ensure your SMS explicitly addresses natural hazard risk management
- Document your go/no-go criteria for weather and natural hazard conditions
- Check that your risk disclosure process meets the new requirements
- Understand the new notifiable incident categories
- Speak with your Technical Advisor about whether your SMS needs updating
For further questions, contact WorkSafe: aao@worksafe.govt.nz
Source: ROSA / SupportAdventure — public domain. Original: supportadventure.co.nz