30 Management of risks
(1) A duty imposed on a person by or under this Act requires the person—
(a) to eliminate risks to health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable; and
(b) if it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate risks to health and safety, to minimise those risks so far as is reasonably practicable. — Health and Safety at Work Act
6 Hierarchy of control measures
(1) This regulation applies if it is not reasonably practicable for a PCBU to eliminate risks to health and safety in accordance with section 30(1)(a) of the Act.
(2) A PCBU must, to minimise risks to health and safety, implement control measures in accordance with this regulation.
(3) The PCBU must minimise risks to health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable, by taking 1 or more of the following actions that is the most appropriate and effective taking into account the nature of the risk:
(a) substituting (wholly or partly) the hazard giving rise to the risk with something that gives rise to a lesser risk:
(b) isolating the hazard giving rise to the risk to prevent any person coming into contact with it:
(c) implementing engineering controls.
(4) If a risk then remains, the PCBU must minimise the remaining risk, so far as is reasonably practicable, by implementing administrative controls.
(5) If a risk then remains, the PCBU must minimise the remaining risk by ensuring the provision and use of suitable personal protective equipment. — HSWA General Risk, etc. Regs
I agree with this completely - and my comment regarding "what is the best we can done" was meant in this context; i.e. "what is the best we can do with the resources we have available (and also without sacrificing something else more in the process). But I do think the process should start "at the top" (for want of a better description) - is there anything we can reasonably do to eliminate this risk? No... ok, lets move down to any reasonably available substitutions...Some would argue "why stop there?" My answer is that interpretation of "Reasonably practicable", if applied properly, gets you to a perfectly good place. — Simon Lawrence
My suggestion is if we want managers to get to the optimum level in the hierarchy, instead of exhortations to be better just for the sake of it (they see right through that), we give them the whole story. And the whole story also says "Here's where you can stop, at least for now". — Simon Lawrence
Agree in principle we can move up the hierarchy when opportunities arise to improve, but "all we can do right now" sounds a bit sketchy! — Simon Lawrence
If you are interested in workplace health & safety in New Zealand, then this is the discussion forum for you.