New health and safety rules will hopefully mean that builders will think less about rushing things and more about their safety, a Wellington builder says.

Legislation coming in today puts an onus on everyone in a business – from the staff to the directors – to take their share of responsibility for preventing accidents in their workplaces.

Construction is one of the deadliest industries in New Zealand and Brian Maridale of Maridale Construction says falls are one of the industry's greatest risks.

"We've just got to be more aware but our company's always been pretty good, we haven't had any serious accidents."

But he says health and safety measures are also costly and there is considerable pressure on builders to keep costs down. "People start taking short cuts."

Trade association Certified Builders has been running a series of health and safety seminars, and chief executive Grant Florence said there had been an overwhelming response from builders and tradespeople keen to get up to speed.

But given the industry's traditionally slow response to change, he was still concerned.

"about one third of builders aren't affiliated with a major trade association that provides education and training for its members on industry matters such as health and safety, which leaves a significant gap," Florence said.

"While health and safety is often seen as a compliance burden on businesses, it's a very necessary one, especially for the building and construction industry."

In another industry – retail – keeping staff safe is more about the threat of crime and hold-ups..

Chris Wilkinson of retail consultancy First Retail Group said he had been working flat out with retailers on the new laws and it had been "a great call to order".

He held a meeting with pharmacists recently and had a packed house.

"You need a personal plan of what you'll do under threat. And you also need a store plan about how the store will respond under threat. Businesses need to take all practical steps, making sure everyone's aware and confident the systems are in place."

Wilkinson said retailers had always thought about health and safety "but this is taking it to a new dimension now".

"There's a duty of care to your staff but you've also got a duty of care to the public as well. In New Zealand, luckily, we don't have a culture where people sue...but in the UK and Australia all you have to do is trip over a little tile and lawsuits are flying."

The laws had been a gamechanger because of their "inescapability," he said.  "You can't contract out of it or insure yourself for it."

Up until about a month ago, Worksafe NZ had recorded 179 workplace deaths since 2011.

Agriculture was the riskiest occupation, with 97 deaths - 25 of them involving quake bikes.

Construction was next dangerous with 24 fatalities, followed by forestry on 23, and 16 through adventure activities.

​