Labour’s Jan Tinetti criticised the changes, calling them reckless and prioritising ideology over safety.
The Government has declared war on a pet hate for many Kiwis, launching a new reporting hotline and assigning two ministers to tackle a “real issue” of overzealous road cone use.
“You can drive around this country at different times of the day and you’ve got whole roads shut down, no one is doing any work and the cones are frankly just clogging up the joint,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said at his post-Cabinet press conference on Monday.
Luxon was joined by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden, who said the issue of a “sea of cones” was brought up at almost every meeting along her recent national road trip.
The focus on cones is part of wider reforms of the country’s health and safety laws and regulations.
Van Velden and Luxon also said there would be fewer health and safety hoops for small, low-risk businesses to jump through after the changes so those businesses could focus their attention on the critical components of workplace safety.
The Government will set up a hotline for the public to report excessive road cone use. Photo / Dean Purcell
“Where we have got small businesses ... we have got some rather silly stuff going on,” Luxon told reporters.
“We’ve got signs that are actually there to warn you about hot water taps, we’ve got signs to say please hold on to the handrail ... that is where we have jumped the shark and it’s gone mad.”
However, Van Velden said, “These health and safety reforms could not be complete unless we do something about the road cones.”
The Government would create a hotline for the public to “report on excessive road cone use they may find out in the wild.
“New Zealanders really hate road cones.”
Two ministers will oversee the road cone reforms – van Velden will handle the WorkSafe side of things and Chris Bishop, as Transport Minister, will oversee the NZ Transport Agency’s role.
“On the WorkSafe side, I am going to direct WorkSafe to confirm and provide guidance on instances of road cone over compliance.”
Van Velden said the requirement for workplaces to notify WorkSafe when incidents happen would be limited to only significant events, such as death, serious injury and illness.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden arriving for the post-Cabinet press conference at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Small, low-risk businesses would need to manage only critical health and safety risks after the reforms.
“For example, a small clothing shop would still need to provide first aid, emergency plans, and basic facilities, such as suitable lighting, but wouldn’t need to have a psychosocial harm policy in place.”
Labour workplace relations spokeswoman Jan Tinetti said the Government was weakening workplace health and safety reforms and it was reckless.
“This Government has shown time and again that it’s more interested in scoring ideological points rather than listening to experts. Health and safety isn’t a political game, it’s about making sure everyone gets home safely.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
