How to become a health and safety inspector
Official title: Health and safety inspector
Health and safety inspectors assess workplaces and work activities to ensure employers are keeping employees safe at work. They may educate people about health and safety, investigate accidents and lead prosecutions.
Main tasks
- Inspect workplaces for health and safety issues
- Ensure workplace safety rules are followed
- Ensure workers have correct safety gear
- Investigate accidents and serious safety events
- Investigate work-related health issues
- Write health and safety reports
- Inform employers about health and safety standards
- Take legal action and appear in court
How to become one
You need experience to become a health and safety inspector and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: 1-2 years' experience as a health and safety adviser; a driver licence; to pass a police check; a First Aid Certificate; to hold a WorkSafe New Zealand Identity Card. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification in public health studies or similar area; to hold a Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Enforcement Officer Warrant; to be registered with the Health and Safety Association New Zealand.
Ways in
- Certificates and diplomas: Entry certificates in workplace health and safety. TEC links this job to study in public health studies. Qualifications: NZ Cert in Workplace Health and Safety Practice. Usually 4 months. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $53,000 a year one year after study and $59,000 five years after; 72% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).
Pay · Past change
- Most common pay: $74,000 to $116,000 a year (median $91,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
- Lower: $58,000 a year · Upper: $139,000 a year
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
Who does this work
- About 630 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
Related jobs
- Safety engineer
- Validation engineer
- Quality control analyst
- Maintenance supervisor
- Appliance service technician
- Maintenance engineer
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Questions people ask
How do I become a health and safety inspector?
You need experience to become a health and safety inspector and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: 1-2 years' experience as a health and safety adviser; a driver licence; to pass a police check; a First Aid Certificate; to hold a WorkSafe New Zealand Identity Card. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification in public health studies or similar area; to hold a Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Enforcement Officer Warrant; to be registered with the Health and Safety Association New Zealand.
How much does a health and safety inspector earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $91,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $74,000 to $116,000 a year.
Has the number of people working as a health and safety inspector grown in New Zealand?
It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026