Food & Hospitality · Employer knowledge

Records & evidence

Keep records because the law requires them or because they help manage the operation — and know which is which. There is no single retention period for every agriculture or horticulture record.

Different records have different legal purposes and retention rules. Under section 57 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, a PCBU must keep each notifiable-event record for at least 5 years from the date notice is given to the regulator. Employment New Zealand states that wage and time records and holiday and leave records must be kept for 6 years, including after an employee leaves.

Hazardous-substance records have their own requirements. The workplace inventory must be kept up to date and include the required substance and SDS information. Training and instruction provided under the hazardous-substances requirements must be recorded. Some tracked substances also have specific tracking-record retention periods. Do not apply one blanket retention period across all these records.

Other records — such as vehicle or machinery checks, maintenance, practical competency, contractor coordination, risk reviews and corrective actions — may be useful evidence of how risks are actually being managed even where there is no universal statutory rule requiring every such record to be kept for a fixed period.

What should a manager have in place?

Required statutory recordsIdentify records the law specifically requires, who owns them, what information they must contain and how long each category must be retained.

Operational evidenceKeep proportionate evidence of important controls such as maintenance, inspections, competency checks, contractor arrangements and follow-up where it helps show that risks are being managed in practice.

Hazardous-substance evidenceKeep the workplace inventory current, maintain required SDS access and training records, and apply any additional tracking or certification record requirements that actually apply to the substances held.

Actions & closureWhen incidents, inspections, worker concerns or reviews identify a problem, record the action, owner and outcome where appropriate. Evidence should help management see whether the issue was actually resolved.

Manager check

Can we distinguish records that are legally required from records we keep as useful management evidence?
Are notifiable-event records retained for at least 5 years from notification to the regulator?
Are wage/time and holiday/leave records retained for 6 years?
Is our hazardous-substances inventory current and are required hazardous-substance training or tracking records managed under their applicable rules?
Can we retrieve evidence for important vehicle, machinery, competency, contractor and risk-control decisions when needed?
Do our records show follow-up and closure rather than simply that a form was completed?
When legislation, the operation or the substances we hold change, do we review the record requirements too?

Step 5 · Review

Turn evidence into management action

SEE → EvidenceReview incidents, inspections, worker concerns, training or competency gaps, maintenance information, contractor issues and hazardous-substance records.

DECIDE → PriorityIdentify what requires immediate control, statutory action or planned improvement based on the actual risk and applicable requirements.

ACT → OwnershipAssign action to someone with authority to complete it and make the expected outcome clear.

VERIFY → ImprovementCheck that significant actions were completed and that the control or change works in the real operation.

HSWA: notifiable-event records →Employment NZ: record-keeping →WorkSafe: hazardous-substances inventory →Return to the Manager Pathway →

NZQC provides practical educational information. It is not legal advice and does not certify that a provider is compliant. Check the official source and the requirements that apply to your service, contracts and scope.