Contractors Working at Kura
At Paparoa Street School, we may engage contractors. Contractors are considered workers under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and can include subcontractors, and employees of a contractor and subcontractor. Contractors may also be a 
person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) and may share responsibility with the poari matua (as the PCBU of Paparoa Street School) for health and safety. The kura, so far as is reasonably practicable, consults, cooperates, and coordinates activities with the contractor.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 defines and outlines the health and safety responsibilities of different types of duty holders within a workplace.
A PCBU is a "person conducting a business or undertaking". At Paparoa Street School, the whole poari matua is the PCBU, including the tumuaki. If events, activities, or services involve more than one PCBU, then PCBUs work together to establish responsibilities and actions for health and safety.
Kura responsibilities
The poari matua has a primary duty of care (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, s 36) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers (including contractors). The poari matua as the PCBU ensures that contractors and subcontractors working at our kura operate in a safe manner.
Reasonably practicable, in relation to the duty of a PCBU, means that which is, or was, at a particular time, reasonably able to be done in relation to ensuring health and safety, taking into account and weighing up all relevant matters, including:
- the likelihood of the hazard or the risk concerned occurring
- the degree of harm that might result from the hazard or risk
- what the person concerned knows, or ought reasonably to know, about:
- the hazard or risk
- ways of eliminating or minimising the risk
- the availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or minimise the risk
- after assessing the extent of the risk and the available ways of eliminating or minimising the risk, the cost associated with available ways of eliminating or minimising the risk, including whether the cost is grossly disproportionate to the risk.
Health and Safety at Work Act, s 22
We formally engage appropriate contractors with a written contract. Before a contractor starts work, we:
- ensure that contractors have relevant work experience, are appropriately trained and qualified, and have a satisfactory health and safety work history
- ask about the type of work that will be done at kura (e.g. known hazards, work permits, what areas of the kura will be used)
- may request to see documentation of contractor health and safety plans and how they will manage their own health and safety while working at our kura (e.g. use of personal protective equipment, signage)
- develop a school access plan (SAP) to establish how to avoid or minimise the likelihood of contractors having unsupervised access to ākonga at the kura during normal kura hours
Unsupervised access to ākonga, in relation to a kura, means access to any ākonga on the kura premises during normal kura hours by anyone who is not in the following list (or not observed by or under the supervision of anyone in the following list):
- a registered kaiako or holder of a limited authority to teach
- an employee of the kura who has had a satisfactory police vet within the last three years
- a parent of the ākonga.
Education and Training Act 2020 (s 10)
- complete a police vet and risk assessment of contractors and sub-contractors, including their employees, if they are likely to have unsupervised access during normal kura hours, as required by Education and Training Act (Schedule 4, clause 10)
- provide appropriate health and safety induction.
Also see Health and Safety Induction and Training and Police Vetting.
We take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the safety of contractors during their work at the kura. We monitor and review contractor work as appropriate (e.g. inspections, meetings, post-contract evaluation). The kura reserves the right to inspect work conducted by a contractor at any time and issue a notice to stop work if health and safety requirements are not being complied with. The kura is not liable for any loss, damage, compensation, or injury sustained by contractors or others at kura not complying with health and safety requirements.
Contractor responsibilities
Contractors are responsible for complying with responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. As workers at the kura, contractors, subcontractors, and their employees must:
- take reasonable care to manage their own health and safety
- take reasonable care to ensure their behaviour does not negatively affect the health and safety of others
- comply with any reasonable instruction given by the kura, including:
- following any relevant kura policies or procedures
- reporting any health and safety incidents, risks, or hazards to a kaimahi.
Contractors must also follow their own policies and procedures, set out by their PCBU, to ensure that they carry out their work safely. Contractors should plan work activities and inform the kura of:
- any hazards and risks that arise from their work
- required safety procedures and equipment for other people who may be affected by that work, including kaimahi, ākonga, and the public
- any notifiable work, and confirmation that they have notified WorkSafe.
Some work, such as tree felling and certain construction work, must be notified to WorkSafe before the contractor starts work. See Notifications at WorkSafe 
.
As required, the contractor supplies any relevant health and safety documentation to the kura (e.g. a site-specific safety plan which may include safe work method statements).
Related policies
Legislation
- Education and Training Act 2020
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
Resources
- Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga:
: Term 3 2025, Term 1 2024, Term 4 2021
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