An independent review of your existing health and safety system to check whether it still reflects how your business actually operates. We identify what has drifted, what has gone out of date, and what needs updating to keep you compliant with the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
Reuben Brooker, Lead Consultant·Last updated: September 2026
A health and safety annual review is a periodic check of your entire health and safety management system: your policies, hazard register, risk assessments, training records, emergency procedures, and incident reporting. It checks whether the system you have on paper still matches what is happening in practice, and whether it meets your current duties under HSWA 2015. It is not a rebuild. It is a health check.
When was your system last reviewed?
If the answer is more than 12 months ago, it is almost certainly out of date. We review it, tell you what has drifted, and give you a plan to fix it.
Health and safety systems decay. Not because anyone decides to ignore them, but because businesses change. You hire new people, take on new types of work, move to a new site, buy new equipment, or start using new substances. The system stays the same while the business moves on.
After 12 months, most businesses have at least some of the following problems:
The hazard register lists risks for work you no longer do and misses risks for work you have started
Training records are out of date or missing for new staff
Emergency contacts have changed and the plan still has old names and numbers
Contractor inductions reference procedures that have been replaced
The "last reviewed" date on your policy is two years ago
None of these are deliberate failures, but any of them would be a problem in a WorkSafe investigation, a prequalification renewal, or a client audit. An annual review catches them before someone else does.
Regulation 8 of the Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 requires you to review control measures to ensure they remain effective. An annual review is the practical way to meet that obligation across your whole system.
What We Review
Health and safety policy: does it still reflect your business and how you operate?
Hazard register and risk assessments: are they current for your actual work, sites, and people?
Training and competency records: are they up to date, and is anything expired or missing?
Emergency procedures: are contacts, evacuation routes, and assembly points still correct?
Incident and near-miss records: are they being reported, investigated, and acted on?
Contractor and subcontractor management: are inductions and records current?
Worker engagement: are workers being consulted on health and safety matters as required?
Document control: when was each document last reviewed, and by whom?
What You Receive
📋
Review report
A written report identifying what is still current, what has drifted, and what needs updating. Written in plain language so you can act on it without needing a consultant to explain it.
🎯
Update plan
A prioritised list of what needs fixing, ranked so you know what to address first. Each item is specific enough to brief to a team member or action yourself.
🤝
Follow-up conversation
We walk you through the findings. If anything needs more than a simple update, such as a risk assessment refresh or new documentation, we outline options and can scope that work separately.
How It Works
1
Scoping call
We discuss your business, what has changed since the system was last reviewed, and confirm the fee.
2
Document collection
You send through your current system: policies, registers, training records, emergency plans, and anything else relevant. We tell you exactly what to gather.
3
Review against current operations and HSWA 2015
Reuben reviews the system against your actual business activities, current staff, current sites, and the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and GRWM Regulations 2016.
4
Review report and update plan delivered
You receive a written report with findings and a prioritised update plan.
5
Follow-up conversation
We talk through the findings and discuss whether you can action the updates yourself or whether you need help.
Annual Review vs. Gap Analysis
These two services are close but serve different purposes.
Service
When to use it
Output
Annual Review (this page)
You already have a system and want to check it is still current after 12 months of business changes
You are not sure whether your system meets HSWA 2015 at all, or you have never had it independently reviewed
Gap report + prioritised action plan
If your system has never been reviewed, start with a gap analysis. If it was reviewed or built within the last one to two years and you want to keep it current, an annual review is the right service. If you are not sure which you need, we will tell you on the scoping call.
Keep your system current
Tell us about your business and when the system was last reviewed. We will confirm a quote and scope the review.
Your annual review is carried out by Reuben Brooker, Lead Consultant at Health & Safety Consultants Auckland, with more than 15 years of experience in workplace health and safety.
Reuben reviews the documentation, writes the report, and walks you through the findings. You deal with the person doing the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
At least annually. Regulation 8 of the GRWM Regulations 2016 requires you to review control measures to ensure they remain effective. An annual cycle is the standard approach, with additional reviews triggered by significant changes to the business, an incident, or a near miss.
No. We review any existing health and safety system, regardless of who built it or where it came from. The review checks the system against HSWA 2015 and your current business operations.
The review is primarily documentation-based. If the review identifies issues that need an on-site check, such as a risk assessment refresh or a site audit, we can scope that as a separate piece of work.
The fee depends on the size of your system and how much has changed since it was last reviewed. We confirm a fixed quote after a short scoping call.
Yes. If the review identifies updates that need to be made, we can do them for you as a separate piece of work. Many clients have us review the system and then update the documents that need changing in the same engagement.
Yes. SiteWise and Totika renewals ask for evidence that your system is current. An annual review gives you that evidence and identifies anything that needs updating before you submit your renewal.
Sources
Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, section 36: primary duty of care requiring every PCBU to ensure health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable. legislation.govt.nz
Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016, regulation 8: duty to review control measures to ensure they remain effective. legislation.govt.nz
Don't wait for someone else to find the gaps
Tell us when your system was last reviewed and we will scope the annual review for you.
