Maybe I'm being a bit simple, but isn't the N.Z. legislation kind of *impenetrable*?
I have been given (was "volunteered for") a task of finding out what's needed by ${EMPLOYER} for the "Health and Safety in Employment Act".
Probably simple enough you may say, I thought so too, considering the number of idiots lacking imagination who can get heavily involved in the administration of this OSH stuff.
Now when I need to know about something relating to the internet, it quickly rattles down to reading the RFC to get an authoritive view on (for instance) a particular protocol.
The RFCs define the rules of the internet, & can be read (although the SNMP section seems to be rather ponderous & convoluted).
Anyway, after a bit of digging around the internet, I came up with lots of articles & "Guides", but never the Act itself.
Then I remembered a recent occasion of unsuccessfully trying to find the traffic regulation which I had apparently transgressed. (Something obscure and petty about following road markings.)
So how am I supposed to "know" the rules of the land? Do I absorb them by some sort of social osmosis?
Surely the rules and regulations which govern my (and other's) behaviour, should be freely available.
For instance, I would like to know what that sign on the road-side (with a picture of a drunkenly-weaving car) is really supposed to mean.
If I want to understand a law or act by reading the legaleese, why can't I? I shouldn't have to pay for the right to read these things, I paid (via my taxes) to have them written in the first place!
It's not like there's a copyright on them ... is there?
The internet seems to be a sitter for this kind of information availablity.
If all this stuff *is* available, can someone let me know?
2 Comments:
NZ legislation is online @
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/
the Health and Safety in Employment Act is here.
As far as street signs go, you can get an overview of what the different sorts are here, and a sign-by-sign breakdown of what each specific one means here.
Your one is 'greasy surface'.
Trust the Librarian instinct:
The pointers to the information are good.
The Legislation Web page *has* the Act, but *what a crap* layout. It's all HTML-structured to facilitate drill-down, but no links to "Next Section". Not a document for "reading".
They do say it is an interum site, so I shouldn't be too critical. But this stuff isn't hard, eh?
As for the road-signs:
The Roadecode only gives examples.
Try & find the definition of the "Beware of Toy Trains" sign, or the "Danger of wandering Windsocks" sign.
Seems there is a thing called "Rules" under the Land Transport Act which are a secret 'till you break 'em.
As I've said elsewhere; I suspect that they are NOT published anywhere, as they are
only "informative" signs as opposed to regulatory "compulsory" signs.
(You can't write infringement tickets against them)
:-)
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