Proposed health, safety and wellbeing guidance for transitional facilities

Consultation background

From 20 February to 10 April 2025, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) invited comment on a proposed new health, safety, and wellbeing guidance document for transitional facilities.

We intended it to be read alongside the Standard for Transitional Facilities for General Uncleared Risk Goods (TFGEN) and the TFGEN guidance document (TFGEN-GD).

A summary of the proposed changes is on this page. Full details are in the consultation documents.

What was proposed?

We wanted your feedback about the proposed health, safety and wellbeing guidance document (TFGEN-GD-HSW).

We also proposed changes to the TFGEN Standard, which included:

• incorporating health and safety guidance information relating to biosecurity requirements and practices of TFGEN
• adding references to the TFGEN-GD-HSW throughout the document.

There were no proposed changes to existing TFGEN Standard requirements, nor had we reviewed the TFGEN guidance document. The existing biosecurity requirements of the TFGEN Standard and its guidance document were out of scope for this consultation.

Note that:

• the TFGEN-GD-HSW and the proposed guidance within the TFGEN Standard are guidance only
• there are no new requirements being placed on transitional facilities, nor will there be any additions to the scope of the audits that MPI undertakes
• the TFGEN-GD-HSW is outcome-focused. Transitional facility operators will be responsible for determining the best approach to meet these outcomes, ensuring alignment with their duties under the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Act 2015.

Why we were making these changes

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, MPI has a primary duty of care to its staff to ensure that they can work in a safe environment, and that risks to their health, safety, and wellbeing are eliminated or minimised.

Transitional facilities have significant influence over the safety of MPI staff working on their sites. MPI also shares duties with transitional facilities related to ensuring the health, safety, and wellbeing of workers within the biosecurity system.

MPI developed the proposed guidance document to fill the need for comprehensive and proactive communication with all transitional facilities about health and safety risks and risk management, and to protect all workers – from MPI inspectors to facility staff.

The guidance was intended to assist, not replace, the transitional facility operator’s own duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. Because MPI is not a health and safety regulator, the guidance does not hold the same significance as the guidance issued by regulators like WorkSafe and Maritime New Zealand.

The proposed health, safety, and wellbeing guidance document and the proposed updates to guidance in the TFGEN Standard did not reflect a change in MPI’s expectations, but rather a shift from reactive to proactive management.

Consultation documents

Draft Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Guidance Document [PDF, 399 KB]

Draft Transitional Facilities for General Uncleared Risk Goods – Facility Standard [PDF, 713 KB]

Discussion document: Health, safety and wellbeing guidance for transitional facilities [PDF, 368 KB]

Related document

HSE Global Report – Transitional Facility Health & Safety Observations [PDF, 945 KB]