How we categorise, prioritise and initially respond to notifications (2024)

People are legally required to notify us about a broad range of events, planned actions or administrative changes. People also notify us voluntarily about events and other matters involving harm or risk of harm in the maritime sector and at ports.
This policy sets out:

• what we mean by a notification;
• how we categorise, and prioritise notifications; and
• the initial actions we will take to respond to a notification.

What is a notification?

A notification is information about an event, planned action or administrative change in the maritime sector or at a designated port that must be provided, or that people choose to provide, to Maritime NZ.
Notifications provide us with information about:

• harm, or potential harm to people, the marine environment or property;
• issues or concerns raised by workers or health and safety representatives regarding their workplace that is a commercial vessel or a designated port;
• planned actions that could present a risk or cause harm in the maritime sector; or
• administrative matters to ensure Maritime NZ holds up to date information to allow us to perform our regulatory functions.

This policy applies to most notifications received by Maritime NZ

This policy applies to notifications:

• from people who tell us about events, planned actions or administrative changes, as required by legislation, on:
  • New Zealand-flagged commercial vessels;
  • foreign-flagged vessels in New Zealand waters;
  • foreign-flagged vessels offshore in relation to New Zealand workers;
  • vessels on demise charter to New Zealand companies in New Zealand waters;
  • a foreign vessel operating between New Zealand and a workplace in connection with an activity that is regulated under the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012 or the Crown Minerals Act 1991;
  • recreational vessels in New Zealand waters; and
  • designated ports.

• from agencies as required by legislation or a formal agreement; and
• made voluntarily by any person about events in the maritime sector or relating to ports, including notifications made under the Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022.

If a notification is made under the Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022, or a notification appears to be a protected disclosure, our operational policy on how we manage protected disclosures will apply.
If a notification is not related to a Maritime NZ function we will refer it to the correct agency, or advise the person who made the notification which agency they need to notify.

This policy does not apply to:

• requests for search and rescue assistance;
• notifications about oil spills or major maritime incidents;
• notifications about maritime security; or
• notifications made by Maritime NZ to other organisations.

These notifications have separate response protocols.

How we categorise notifications

We consider all notifications made to Maritime NZ to be important.
If a notification has insufficient information for categorisation and prioritisation, we will undertake best endeavours to seek further information from the person who made the notification. If the information provided is still insufficient or we are unable to contact the person that made the notification, the notification will be recorded and closed.
Once we have sufficient information, notifications covered by this policy are assigned to one of two categories.

1. Notifications that relate to a harm or potential harm occurring to a person, property or the environment; or
2. Administrative and planned action notifications.

Notifications that relate to a harm or potential harm occurring

As a significant range of notifications are in this category, we initially prioritise these notifications based on our understanding of:

• whether the level of harm that has occurred, or the potential harm that could occur, is high, medium or low; and
• the urgency with which the notification needs to be referred for a response.

How we determine the level of harm or potential harm that could occur

We use the following criteria to determine the level of harm, or potential harm:

• the severity of the harm that has occurred; and
• potential harm:
  • the severity of the potential harm; and
  • the likelihood of the potential harm occurring.

We then assign each notification a rating of high, medium or low.

High rating notifications

High rating notifications include:

• events that have caused, events that under different circ*mstances were highly likely to have caused, and ongoing situations, where the circ*mstances are highly likely to cause:
  • death;
  • serious injury or serious illness that is life-threatening where the person is likely to have a serious permanent disability or health effect;
  • serious damage to a vessel or port including equipment used for port operations; or
  • serious harm to the environment through a pollution (excluding oil spills) event that is widespread, or in a protected area, or where the event results in the closure of fisheries/aquaculture or significant fatalities to marine animals.

Notifications of a breach of the Maritime Labour Convention that are likely to result in significant financial, nutritional or wellbeing issues for a seafarer are also considered to be a high rated notification.

Medium rating notifications

Medium rating notifications include:

• events that have caused, events that under different circ*mstances were highly likely to have caused, and ongoing situations, where the circ*mstances are highly likely to cause:
  • a moderate injury or illness, that has caused a temporary disability or health effect, and requires medical attention;
  • a chronic work related health matter;
  • moderate damage to a vessel;
  • a moderate pollution (excluding oil spills) event. This is an event that is localised or near shore that covers a moderate sized area or involves a highly toxic substance, or where environmental recovery is likely to take less than a year;
  • moderate damage that makes a navigational aid ineffective; or
  • moderate damage where part of a port’s operation is compromised or the event has caused moderate disruption to commerce, transport or the public.

A breach of the Maritime Labour Convention that does not result in significant financial, nutritional or wellbeing issues for a seafarer is considered to be a medium rated notification.
A notification relating to a vessel that would have been considered a high rated notification but the vessel has left or is not within New Zealand’s jurisdiction is also considered to be a medium rated notification.
After further assessment a medium rated notification may be given a high or low rating.

Low rating notifications

Low rating notifications include events or potential events that would not be considered a high or medium rated event such as:

• an incident that is contained and managed with no or minor harm to people, property or the marine environment, and a low potential for further harm to occur.

Planned action notifications and administrative notifications

Notifications about planned actions are prioritised in accordance with any legislated requirements or to ensure the required actions are taken.
All planned action and administrative notifications will be acknowledged within ten working days.
We record and periodically analyse these notifications to help inform our work.

How we will respond after initial prioritisation

Our initial response to a harm related notification will depend on its priority rating, the circ*mstances and the need for a decision on preserving a site.

High Rated Notifications

For high rated notifications, we will contact the person who notified us, or if the notification is related to the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA), the duty holder/s, as soon as possible but within four hours of receiving the notification to:

• verify the information we have been provided about the event and ensure the appropriate controls at the site are in place to eliminate or mitigate further harm from occurring;
• make a decision on whether the site needs to continue to be preserved under HSWA or require a site to be preserved using our powers under the HSWA or the Maritime Transport Act 1994 (MTA); and
• provide a timeframe for when Maritime NZ will attend the site, where we will do so.

Where we attend a site and observe ongoing risk of high harm without adequate controls in place, we will likely use one of our corrective tools, to ensure the site is safe or is made safe.
Further details on use of corrective tools are in our operational policy on the use of corrective and enforcement tools under HSWA and MTA.
Further details on preserving sites are in our operational policy on preserving and releasing preserved sites.
For most high rated notifications we will initiate an investigation.

Medium Rated Notifications

For medium rated notifications we will make an initial assessment as to whether a scene needs to be preserved. Where we believe a scene is required to be preserved, we will contact the person who notified us, or if HSWA related, the duty holder/s as soon as practicable but within four hours of receiving the notification to:

• verify the details of the notified event and ensure the appropriate controls are in place at the scene to eliminate or mitigate further harm from occurring;
• make a decision on whether the scene needs to continue to be preserved under HSWA or require a site to be preserved using our powers under HSWA or MTA; and
• provide a timeframe for when Maritime NZ will attend the scene, where we will do so.

For medium rated notifications where the scene is not required to be preserved, within five working days we will contact the duty holder to:

• verify the details of the notified event; and
• initiate a response to the notification.

In many cases for a medium rated notification we will likely undertake an inspection to form a clear picture of the broad risks or circ*mstances associated with the notified event, rather than an investigation. Our focus will be on how best to support the person notifying us, or if HSWA related, the duty holder/s, to take the right corrective action to remedy the unsafe circ*mstances or non-compliance that led to the notified event.
Where the medium rated notification appears to indicate a pattern of recent non-compliant behaviour and multiple harm-related incidents, we may choose to investigate.

Low Rated Notifications

In general, if we receive a low rated notifications we will acknowledge the notification, record the details of the notified event and close the file. Decisions to close a file relating to a low rated notification will be made within 10 working days.
If however, the low rated notification appears to indicate a pattern of non-compliant behaviour, or is part of a series of very similar events over a relatively short period of time, we may escalate our rating and undertake an inspection.
Information gathered during the inspection may lead to us applying a corrective action tool, or take enforcement action should that be appropriate.

Acknowledging harm related notifications

Unless we make contact earlier, we acknowledge all harm notifications at least within ten working days and we will let the person who made the notification, or if HSWA related, the duty holder, know the rating that was assigned and any action we have taken.
We will provide regular updates on where a notification is in the process and when it is closed.
We record, periodically analyse, and publish these notifications to help inform our work, and the sector.

Further information

Further information and related operational policies can be found on our website.

Legislative basis for this policy

The following Acts and their regulations and rules provide the legislative basis for this policy.

• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
• Maritime Transport Act 1994
• Ships Registration Act 1992
• Submarine Cables and Pipelines Protection Act 1996
• Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996
• Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022

Key terms

Disclaimer

This policy provides information about how Maritime NZ makes decisions on categorising, prioritising and initially responding to notifications under the relevant legislation specified in the policy. This document is not a substitute for legislation.