11. Question No. 11—Workplace Relations and SafetyCAMILLA BELICH (Labour) (remote) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and SafetyQuestion No. 11—Workplace Relations and Safety11. CAMILLA BELICH (Labour) (remote) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What recent reports has he seen about WorkSafe's enforcement of COVID-19 rules for workplaces?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): Since August 2021 WorkSafe has received approximately 9000 COVID-related notifications and carried out over 7000 COVID-related assessments taking 114 enforcement actions against businesses for deliberate and ongoing non-compliance under the COVID protection framework. WorkSafe plays a critical role in the Government's response to COVID-19 ensuring that businesses and organisations are meeting their obligations under the COVID protection framework. I know how deeply COVID-19 has impacted many businesses and workers over the past two years. WorkSafe's enforcement activities through the pandemic show that most businesses are overwhelmingly committed to following the rules and that the Government is firmly committed to ensuring that organisations are playing their part in keeping Kiwis safe from COVID-19.Camilla Belich: What other tools besides enforcement does WorkSafe use to ensure compliance?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: WorkSafe takes an educate first" approach when engaging with businesses to help them understand their responsibilities under the COVID protection framework and the potential consequences if they continue to fail to meet their obligations. A graduated approach to enforcement is taken moving from education and warnings through to written directions and infringement notices. Non-compliance is often due to misunderstanding lack of awareness of requirements or insufficient training—all of which can be corrected through timely intervention by WorkSafe's team. And the relatively small number of serious enforcement actions taken by WorkSafe show that this positive engagement is working. It shows that WorkSafe's strategy is effective and it shows that the overwhelming majority of Kiwi businesses want to do the right thing on behalf of the workers their customers and their communities.Camilla Belich: How has the Government funded and supported this work?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The Government approved $4.373 million of funding for WorkSafe's COVID compliance and enforcement role in late 2021-2022. This funding is supporting WorkSafe to build a COVID-19 - focused workforce and to deliver a range of education and enforcement interventions without having to trade off against other important priorities. It's also helping WorkSafe to report iwi Māori community advisers to support engagement with Māori kaimahi and community on COVID-19 responsibilities. Additionally over $2.1 million in funding was provided in 2020-2021 to industry leadership bodies who are experiencing financial difficulty in maintaining their core capacity—and that's been important in making sure that we've had leadership on the ground.Camilla Belich: What sort of enforcement action has WorkSafe taken against businesses who have deliberately and repeatedly failed to comply with their obligations under the COVID protection framework?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: As I've said before the overwhelming number of businesses are doing the right thing and particularly when WorkSafe provides support and guidance they generally respond very well. But it is important that a clear message is sent to the very small number who consistently and deliberately flout the rules. Some of these cases include businesses not having systems in place to check other people's vaccine passes to scan QR codes; allowing unvaccinated staff to continue working in spite of vaccine mandates; or failing to keep accurate contact-tracing records. Where these cases are persistent and deliberate and there is no response to reasonable engagement from WorkSafe they have taken a strong approach including the imposition of infringement notices and fines of between $4000 and $12000 per offence and that should send a strong message and give confidence to good Kiwi businesses that the other businesses who are not doing as they should do face consequences."