WorkSafe’s failings

The recently released review by David Laurenson QC of WorkSafe’s regulatory oversight of Whakaari/White Island is grim, especially given the promise, following Pike River, that WorkSafe would be an effective health and safety regulator. The report sets out a litany of WorkSafe failings:

(1) WorkSafe recognised a third-party safety auditor that was not competent – and WorkSafe did not check or specify a scope of competence.

(2) WorkSafe accepted a safety audit completed by a low-level mountaineering guide focused on trips and slips from walking on gravel, not main volcanic risks relating to Whakaari/White Island being an active volcano.

(3) WorkSafe was slow and timid in dealing with unregistered operators on Whakaari/White Island between 2014 and 2019 without enforcing compliance.