Being in an unsafe working environment can make your job increasingly difficult. Employers must provide a safe workplace, with proper training, supervision and equipment. This duty includes identifying, assessing and managing hazards in the workplace, and investigating health and safety incidents in the workplace.
Employees must take reasonable care to keep themselves safe and to avoid causing harm to other people by the way they do their work.
Employees may refuse work likely to cause them serious harm and employees have the right to participate in improving health and safety.
If you feel that you are working in an unsafe environment you should raise the issue with your employer. Wherever possible, you should raise the issue in writing, via email, and ask for a response. If your employer is unwilling to discuss or resolve the issue – contact us, our company can assist you in dealing with your concerns.
Please provide a timeline of events, and any evidence of you making your employer aware of the situation.
Bullying and harassment is also a health and safety issue. See our page on bullying here: Bullying In The NZ Workplace.
Can you be fired for refusing to work in unsafe conditions?
Read our reviews:
Hilary had my back.
Can’t really disclose much about my case but I was in really low state leading up to my mediation. Hilary was such a calming influence on me and had my back the whole.way through. Honestly can recommend them highly enough.
It was great to have Andrea in my corner.
We honestly can’t speak highly enough of Andrea. From the very beginning, she was incredibly patient, clear in her communication and excellent at setting expectations so we always understood where things stood and what the next steps were.
What really stood out for us was how much time Andrea took to genuinely listen and understand our situation. We never felt rushed or like we were just another client — she gave us the opportunity to explain everything properly and made us feel heard, which was incredibly important to us.
Andrea worked extremely hard on our behalf and throughout the whole process gave us real confidence that if she said she was going to do something, she would do it. Having someone like that in your corner makes such a difference, particularly when you’re navigating something that can otherwise feel quite stressful.
Professional, patient, hardworking and genuinely caring. We’re incredibly grateful for everything Andrea has done for us and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone. An absolute pleasure to deal with.
Extremely grateful to Andrea.
We were so grateful to Andrea for all the wonderful help that she gave us. I have recommended and will continue to do so as she is not just a person behind a desk, but is empathetic, kind and extremely supportive. Andrea understands you as a person, not just an employee. Thank you Andrea, we couldn’t have done it without you! Extremely grateful!
Exceptional!
I had the pleasure of dealing with Sandy. Sandy is an exceptional communicator who clearly goes into disputes with purpose & honesty. She injected humour into our discussions (which lightened the moment & stress levels), offered practical advice & showed cultural compassion. I would highly recommend working with her.
Amazing service.
Sheryl was amazing – she is kind honest and takes her time even at first consult
CONTACT US FOR A FREE CASE EVALUATION
You can trust us to listen
Statistics prove that legal representation for employees by an employment lawyer or employment law advocate improves your chance of a successful outcome.
You have nothing to lose by having a free consultation with an Employment Law Advocate.
You can email us using the form below. When you receive the automated reply to your email please reply and attach any correspondence you have received from your employer.