I have a few whanau that work in fishing and a few whanau on farms — those are also dangerous in their own way.

Selina Eruera, mother of forestry victim Eramiha Pairama

At present, a company with more than 30 employees is required to have health and safety representation and those with under 30 employees must have one if requested by their workers.

The bill originally removed the threshold entirely but a parliamentary select committee has recommended the threshold be reinstated but to 20 employees.

The law will also have a schedule of high-risk businesses, which will almost certainly include forestry, in which no threshold exemption will apply.

Labour’s Iain Lees-Galloway has several amendments including some which would:

Remove the threshold of 20 and require any workplace to have a health and safety representative if requested by their workers.

Allow a private prosecution to be brought within six months of the regulator announcing a decision not to prosecute instead of the current position which allows private prosecutions only within two years of the issue becoming known to the regulator — even if a decision by the regulator has not been made within the two years.

Speaking to the Herald at Parliament yesterday, Eramiha Pairama’s mother, Selina Eruera, said she had travelled to Wellington to support changes which would protect workers.

Her son, aged 19, was the youngest person to die in the forestry industry when he was struck by a tree at a logging site near Whakatane in 2013.

Mrs Eruera said forestry was not the only high-risk industry. “I have a few whanau that work in fishing and a few whanau on farms — those are also dangerous in their own way.”