The chair of the new Worksafe New Zealand board says management will be required to listen to their workers or risk having their operation shut down.
The stand-alone Crown agency responsible for reducing the death and injury toll in workplaces begins its work today.
Worksafe will receive $80 million a year to increase education, employ more safety inspectors, and focus on high-risk industries such as forestry.
Chair Gregor Coster says workers' voices haven't been heard for a long time. He says there will be worker safety representatives on site and management will be required to listen to them and act, or face closure.
The creation of Worksafe was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Pike River coal mine tragedy.
Labour Minister Simon Bridges says he expects there to be more prosecutions of companies when workers are killed or seriously injured.
