How Often Should Harnesses Be Inspected in NZ? | Fern Group
In New Zealand, harnesses and lanyards should be professionally inspected every 6 months under AS/NZS 1891.4.
WorkSafe points to the AS/NZS 1891.4:2025 standards, which require a competent person to inspect 6 monthly to remain compliant. Manufacturers typically recommend 6-monthly inspections for harnesses and lanyards.
This 6-monthly inspection is just one of three checks to keep your height safety gear safe:
Before each use: the worker checks their own harness and lanyard.
At least every 6 months: a competent inspector does a formal inspection.
After a fall or any incident: take the gear out of service straight away.
Fern is here to help keep you compliant, if you don't read anything more in this article, this is what you need to know: Fern Group offers a complete solution for your height safety needs. We are a professional team of hard working kiwis who care about your workers getting home safely.
We make this easy for you by:
Keeping your gear compliant and up to date with an online height safety management software.
If something is broken, we fix or supply right away so that you are not left without the gear needed.
We come to you. We travel all over Auckland and beyond, to visit your site. No more gathering up your gear and transporting it anywhere.
We will contact you to follow up when inspections are needed.
The law is changing in New Zealand on 1 April 2027
As a large corporation you may not be aware that the rules are changing from the 1st of April 2027 under the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act 2026, this got Royal assent on the 9th July 2026. This directly impacts the way that your business needs to measure and mitigate risk in the workplace.
The new Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act 2026 focuses on "critical risks." This means hazards that are likely to cause death, serious injury, serious illness or long-term harm. This is important if your employees are working at height, specifically heights of over 3 metres, as these are deemed automatically critical by this legislation. This can include scaffolding and roofing companies, commercial and residential construction companies, power companies working at heights, arborists.
Over 3 metres is critical because the law lists it by name. And it is important to know that under 3 metres still counts. It is logical, imagine falling from 3 metres! WorkSafe's working at height guidelines (August 2026) say: "Many people believe that if a fall is less than 3 m, no control measures are needed. This is dangerous and incorrect."
For every site that uses harnesses, harness inspections and checks are on the list of hazards to manage and keep compliant. At Fern Group we welcome this, as the goal is always to keep the people doing the work going home safely at the end of the day.
Critical risks managed by regulations
The types of work and hazards identified as critical risks include the following. Check if your business falls into any of these categories, to ensure your business is up to date and doing your due diligence.
Major hazard facilities and major incident hazards - Facilities and operations storing quantities of hazardous substances that reach the threshold quantity in the major hazard facility regulations. This includes oil and gas facilities, chemical manufacturing plants, fuel storage sites, and similar facilities that could cause a major incident.
Working at height - Any work where a person could fall more than 3 metres.
Scaffolding - Constructing, erecting, maintaining, altering, repairing, or dismantling scaffolding.
Substances hazardous to health - Exposure to substances hazardous to health, including dusts, fumes, mists, gases, vapours, fibres, and biological agents that can cause serious illness or disease.
Gases under pressure - Designing, manufacturing, filling, maintaining, repairing, transporting, storing or using gas containers, pressure vessels, compressed gas systems, and other pressurised systems.
For the full list, see the WorkSafe website directly. These are also the types of companies we currently work with, including Elgas and BOC. We are specialised in working with large companies to keep you compliant.
Who is responsible for making sure your business is compliant?
Essentially, whoever is the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) is responsible. WorkSafe says the business must make sure PPE (personal protective equipment, meaning gear like harnesses) is "maintained, repaired and replaced so it continues to protect your worker". This applies no matter who supplied the gear.
“Employers also have a duty to ensure that workers’ PPE is maintained properly and replaced when necessary.”
Large PCBUs
If you are a large PCBU; you are a large PCBU if you have 20 or more workers, or you are in a type of business (or undertaking) where worker numbers fluctuate during the year, and you expect to have more than 20 workers in more than three months of the year.
You must:
identify your critical risks
prioritise your critical risks
manage all risks.
Contractors, subcontractors and labour hire workers count as workers too, not just staff on the payroll.
Critical risks should get the most attention and oversight. For more information on what prioritising means, see Prioritising critical risks for large PCBUs
See WorkSafe's guidance on how to manage work risks for information on how to identify and manage risks.
What our professional inspection finds that a quick check can miss:
Wear hidden under buckles, loops and plastic keepers. An inspector moves these to see underneath.
Damage inside shock absorbers.
Worn fibres in the webbing.
Corrosion on metal parts.
Gear that is past its "destroy by" date.
Fern Group does 6-monthly inspections in Auckland and beyond. Take the guess work out of your height safety compliance. Book your FREE inspection today.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and not intended as a substitute for specific professional advice on any matter and should not be relied upon for that purpose.
