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2.   Legislation

Railways, tramways and cable cars are required to operate under the Railways Act 2005 (the Act),Act, which promotes the safety of rail operations, restates and amends law relating to the railway corridor and consolidates legislation relating to railways.

The Railways Act ensuresresponds to changes in the industry and seeks to ensure that responsibility and accountability for safety is clearly identified for all industry players. Legislation is consolidated in this Act from the previous Railway Safety and Corridor Management Act 1992 and the parts of the Land Transport Act 1998 and the Transport Services Licensing Act 1989 that relate to rail.

The relevant legislation covering occupational safety and health issues covering staff , contractor and volunteer safety in employment is found in the Health and Safety at Workin Employment Act 2015.1992 (HSE Act). This predominantly focuses on the safety and wellbeing of paid employees and self-employed people but has some application to volunteers depending on the type of organisation they are working for and the type of work they are doing. There is also a duty to ensure that no action or inaction of any person at work harms any other person. ThisThese can include visitors to the site or public in the vicinity of the site, for example. Refer to  www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafeto Appendix 5 for further information.

Rail participants need to be aware that they may also be required to comply with provisions of other legislation such as those listed in  Appendix 4.in Appendix 4 .

It is essential that all potential and existing rail participants be familiar with the provisions of the above legislation.