Health & Safety Rules Are Changing in 2027: What Farmers and Small Businesses Need to Know About Tree Work

WHAT IS ACTUALLY CHANGING?

The Health and Safety at Work Act has been amended, with the main changes taking effect on 1 April 2027.

WorkSafe says the new framework is intended to put greater emphasis on critical risks.

A critical risk is essentially a risk that could result in outcomes such as:

• Death
• A notifiable injury
• A notifiable illness
• A notifiable incident
• Certain specified occupational diseases

Some risks are also treated as critical because they are specifically managed under health and safety regulations.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR SMALL BUSINESSES?

Under the changes, a small PCBU is generally a business or undertaking with fewer than 20 workers.

From 1 April 2027, WorkSafe says the main HSWA duties of small PCBUs will be focused on managing critical risks.

That doesn’t mean ignoring safety.

It means putting the greatest attention on the hazards capable of causing the most serious harm rather than treating every small workplace risk as though it carries the same consequence.

For many farms, rural businesses and small commercial operations, that may make health and safety conversations more practical:

What could seriously hurt someone here, and what are we doing about it?

TREE WORK CAN INVOLVE SOME VERY SERIOUS RISKS

Not every tree job is a critical risk.

Picking up a few small branches from the lawn clearly isn’t the same as dealing with a storm-damaged pine hanging over a shed.

But many common tree-work situations have the potential for very serious consequences.

Examples include:

• Large trees or limbs falling unpredictably
• Storm-damaged or hung-up trees
• Working at height
• Chainsaw work
• Heavy machinery operating around workers
• Unstable root plates
• Trees or equipment near live powerlines
• Large branches over buildings, roads or work areas

Depending on the circumstances, hazards like these may fit the definition of a critical risk because a failure could result in death or serious injury.

START WITH THE QUESTION: WHAT COULD GO SERIOUSLY WRONG?

You don’t need to turn every tree job into a paperwork exercise.

Before work starts, ask a few basic questions.

• What could fall?
• Who could be underneath it?
• Is the tree stable?
• Is anything under tension?
• Are there powerlines nearby?
• Will machinery be operating around people?
• Could the public, staff, contractors or stock enter the work area?
• Does this work require specialist skills or equipment?

Those questions quickly separate a straightforward maintenance job from one that deserves proper planning or specialist involvement.

DON’T WAIT UNTIL SOMEONE STARTS THE CHAINSAW

One of the best times to manage a serious tree risk is before anybody starts work.

That might mean:

• Moving stock from the area
• Closing a farm track temporarily
• Keeping workers and vehicles clear
• Checking for overhead services
• Establishing an exclusion zone
• Changing how the job will be approached
• Getting appropriately skilled contractors involved

A five-minute conversation beforehand can be considerably easier than dealing with the consequences of something going wrong.

FARMERS AND CONTRACTORS MAY BOTH HAVE A ROLE

Bringing a tree contractor onto a farm doesn’t automatically transfer every health and safety consideration to the contractor.

The property owner or farm operator may know about hazards the contractor can’t see.

That could include:

• Electric fences
• Underground services
• Soft ground or hidden drains
• Stock movements
• Other contractors working nearby
• Restricted access
• Overhead powerlines

The tree contractor, meanwhile, brings knowledge of the risks created by the tree work itself.

Where health and safety duties overlap, communication between the businesses involved remains important.

THIS ISN’T A REASON TO WAIT UNTIL APRIL 2027

The new framework takes effect on 1 April 2027.

That does not mean serious risks can be ignored until then.

New Zealand’s existing health and safety duties continue to apply in the meantime.

If you already have dangerous trees, storm damage, dead limbs over work areas or vegetation interfering with powerlines, the sensible time to look at them is now.

There’s very little benefit in waiting for a piece of legislation to change before dealing with something that could hurt somebody today.

USE THE CHANGE AS A REASON TO WALK THE PROPERTY

You don’t need to make this complicated.

Walk around the farm or workplace and look at the areas people actually use.

Pay particular attention to trees around:

• Farm tracks and driveways
• Workshops and sheds
• Staff parking areas
• Stock yards
• Loading areas
• Public access
• Buildings
• Powerlines

Then ask:

If part of that tree failed tomorrow, what could it hit?

That one question is often enough to tell you which trees deserve a closer look first.

FOCUS ON THE RISKS THAT REALLY MATTER

The upcoming changes are intended to make health and safety more focused on the risks capable of causing serious harm.

For tree management, that’s a useful way to think regardless of the legislation.

You don’t need to panic about every tree on the property.

You need to identify the ones that could create a serious problem and deal with those appropriately.

Kirkwood NZ can assess trees across farms, commercial properties and work sites and help prioritise what needs attention now, what can be managed over time and what doesn’t need action at all.

Read more about our vegetation management services, our tree maintenance services, or our guide to trees near powerlines.