Changes to New Zealand’s health and safety legislation are coming into effect on 1 April 2027 and now is the time to start preparing. A key focus of the reforms is identifying and managing critical risks. Risks that could result in serious injury, illness or fatality if controls fail. For businesses in the hire and access industries, these could include working at height, mobile plant and traffic, lifting operations, falling objects, hazardous substances, transport and service vehicles, release of energy and hot work.