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Who is included under Maritime NZ’s designation on ports?

On 1 July 2024, Maritime NZ became the main health and safety regulator for New Zealand’s 13 major ports and all ships under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA).

This extended designation aims to reduce high-risk harms by enabling better oversight of port operations, cargo handling, and vessel safety.

 

Port profile maps

Port profiles are aerial maps of each port that show the areas covered by Maritime NZ’s HSWA designation. They have been developed with the port sector and WorkSafe.

What this means for ports

Report any event, incident, or situation to Maritime NZ as soon as possible. 

  • In life‑threatening situations that require immediate emergency services, dial 111 or radio MAYDAY. 

  • After‑hours serious incidents, on weekends, New Zealand public holidays, and weekdays between 4.30pm and 9.00am NZT, call 0508 22 55 22 to notify actual or potential loss of life, serious injury, serious damage to a vessel or port, or serious pollution. 

WorkSafe continues to regulate major hazard facilities, inland ports, HSWA authorisations and exemptions, and to enforce specific legislation such as the Electricity and Gas Acts 1992. 

Partnering with WorkSafe

Maritime NZ and WorkSafe are committed to supporting the port sector to improve safety outcomes through effective collaboration.

WorkSafe retains responsibility for:

  • regulating major hazard facilities on ports
  • granting, varying, and cancelling authorisations and exemptions under HSWA
  • oversight of inland ports across New Zealand
  • regulatory activity where it is expressly named in legislation or regulations, for example under the Electricity and Gas Acts 1992.

When Maritime NZ identifies issues with authorisations or exemptions during its regulatory work on major ports, we will inform WorkSafe. Our compliance monitoring includes checking that businesses and workers hold required permits and licences.

Memorandum of Understanding and schedules

Given the role each agency plays on major ports, Maritime NZ and WorkSafe agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and associated schedules that describe how we work together from 1 July 2024.

The MoU sets the framework for cooperation. Four schedules provide specific details on:

  • boundaries of Maritime NZ’s designation and the areas WorkSafe continues to regulate
  • how authorisations and exemptions will be managed
  • data and information‑sharing processes
  • operational cooperation between agencies.

Operating safely at ports

Find out more about Maritime NZ’s health and safety designation at ports, and joint initiatives with New Zealand’s 13 major ports to improve health and safety in this critical sector, including the:

  • Port Health and Safety Leadership Group
  • Port Sector Insights Picture and Action Plan
  • The Approved Code of Practice for Loading and Unloading Cargo at Ports and on Ships (ACOP).