Food & Hospitality · Employer knowledge

Records & evidence

Keep records because the law requires them or because they help manage the service — and know which is which. Cleaning and property-service records do not all share one retention period.

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 separate requirements. The workplace inventory must be kept up to date and hazardous-substance training and instruction must be recorded. Where exposure monitoring is required under the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations, results generally must be retained for 30 years, or 40 years for asbestos-related exposure monitoring. Health-monitoring records have their own confidentiality and retention requirements.

Other records — such as client-site risk information, lone-worker arrangements, equipment checks, practical competency, contractor coordination and corrective actions — can be useful evidence of how risks are managed even where there is no universal statutory requirement to keep every such record for a fixed period.

What should a manager have in place?

Required statutory recordsIdentify which records the law requires for your work, who owns them, what they must contain and how long each category must be retained.

Client-site & lone-work evidenceKeep proportionate evidence of important site information, agreed responsibilities, communication arrangements and follow-up where it helps demonstrate that changing worksite risks are being managed.

Chemical & exposure recordsMaintain the hazardous-substances inventory, required training records and any exposure or health-monitoring records triggered by the work. Apply the correct retention rule to each category.

Actions & closureWhere incidents, inspections, worker concerns or client-site reviews identify a problem, record the action, owner and outcome where appropriate so management can see whether the issue was resolved.

Manager check

Can we distinguish legally required records from 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 the hazardous-substances inventory current and are required chemical-training records maintained?
If exposure or health monitoring is triggered, are those records managed under the applicable confidentiality and long-term retention requirements?
Can we retrieve relevant client-site, lone-work, competency and risk-control information when needed?
Do records show follow-up and closure rather than simply that a form was completed?

Step 5 · Review

Turn evidence into management action

SEE → EvidenceReview incidents, worker concerns, client feedback, site changes, chemical issues, competency gaps and recurring service risks.

DECIDE → PriorityIdentify what needs immediate control, statutory action, client coordination or planned improvement based on the actual risk.

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 client-site environment.

HSWA: notifiable-event records →Employment NZ: employment records →Chemicals & Exposure guide →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.