Complaints from viewers could land show 'The Block' in trouble

The Block NZ contestants. Photo / Supplied

Worksafe NZ will be meeting with producers of TV show The Block over adherence to basic health and safety rules following complaints from viewers.

Members of the public have raised concerns about the DIY construction show with the Government's health and safety regulator, which says it is looking into the matter.

The show, which is in its fifth season in New Zealand, follows four couples as they renovate a property and sell it at auction.

Guy Harris, a carpentry tutor at Whitireia in Wellington, told Fairfax that some practices by the contestants appeared to breach health and safety standards.

Apprentices at his polytech found the lack of standards hypocritical, he said.

"The apprentices from all over the district come in and say 'How come The Block doesn't have to follow the rules?'"

People working under scaffolding had not worn hard hats, and some people had worked on scaffolding two or three storeys up without a harness, he said. Others had not used earmuffs or safety goggles.

A Worksafe spokesperson said it had received complaints from viewers of the The Block and would be meeting with its producers "in the next few weeks".

The show had made some improvements since the previous season, the spokesperson said, but the public was still raising concerns about practices on the show.

"We have noted improvements for controlling high-risk activities, like working at height."

Worksafe met with the producers in 2014 and last year.

"We discussed various health and safety issues brought to our attention by viewers," the spokesperson said.

Warner Bros NZ, which produced the The Block, told Fairfax that everyone involved was briefed about health and safety rules, and that no one had been seriously injured since the show began in 2012.