133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
6 June 2024
Erika Whittome
By email: [FYI request #26677 email]
Ref:
H2024041134
Tēnā koe Erika
Response to your request for official information Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health – Manatū Hauora (the Ministry) on 9 May 2024 for information regarding workplace
diseases and Schedule 2 of the Accident Compensation Act 2001. Please find a response to
your request below.
“I see this page dated 18 Mar 2024 from the MoH says that infectious diseases like the flu
are now "workplace hazards". https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-
conditions/workplace-infectious-disease-prevention
"Any infectious disease encountered in the workplace is considered a workplace hazard."
Kindly share the all the memos, emails, correspondence, legal advice etc that took place
for this page to be published and this statement, "any infectious disease encountered in
the workplace is considered a workplace hazard."
The Ministry has identified two documents within scope of your request:
•
Workplace Hazard 1
Draft email regarding the Ministry’s view of an employer’s obligations under the Health
and Safety at Work Act (2015) to mitigate the spread of an infectious disease in a
workplace.
•
Workplace Hazard 2
An email chain of two emails confirming whether an existing statement in regard to
infectious diseases in the workplace published on the webpage should be kept.
These documents are considered legal advice and correspondence, and as such are withheld
under section 9(2)(h) of the Act as legally privileged. However, the Ministry considers the length
of time that the webpage has been published and in maintaining legal professional privilege,
can provide summaries of these documents as above. The webpage was published in 2017 and
has undergone very minimal changes since.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this decision, please feel
free to contact the OIA Services Team on: [email address].
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any
decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Manatū Hauora website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-
official-information-act-requests. Nāku noa, nā
Phil Knipe
Chief Legal Advisor/Privacy Officer Government and Executive Services | Te Pou Whakatere Kāwanatanga
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