Mr Woodhouse has been under fire for what many see as a botched Health and Safety Reform Bill which, among other things, makes sheep and beef farms, which have high injury rates, deemed as low risk.
Worm farming, rabbit-breeding and mini-golf are considered high risk. Workplaces in the high risk category will be required to have a health and safety officer.
Defending the Bill yesterday, Mr Woodhouse said agriculture's low-risk classification did not mean it is a safe sector and it is on notice to lift its game. Just how that will happen is still up for discussion.
In a move seen as an obvious attempt to shift the debate to a new topic, Mr Woodhouse accompanied Prime Minister John Key to the post-Cabinet news conference on Monday where he announced local communities, through councils, will decide whether retailers can open on Easter Sunday.
The current rules around shop trading over the Easter period are complex and relatively arbitrary.
The law allows certain shops selling specific items to remain open, while others have to close.
Rules now in place include several historical exemptions which allow shops in areas like Queenstown to open on Easter Sunday while those in Wanaka can not.
That has caused problems in the past, particularly when Warbirds Over Wanaka is held.
Wanaka retailers have defied the law in recent years and prosecutions have fallen to zero as the courts deem the cases a waste of time.
Mr Woodhouse has made a sensible decision, but one which must have been hard given in 2012 he opposed a member's Bill from National colleague Jacqui Dean to relax the rules.
If anyone is to receive some recognition for the work done to allow Wanaka shops to trade on Easter Sunday, it must be Mrs Dean.
All National MPs will be required to vote for the new law, which means Senior Government Whip Tim Macindoe, who also opposed Mrs Dean's Bill, will have to round up National's MPs to ensure they vote accordingly.
If ever there is an example of political expediency to divert attention, this is it.
Mr Woodhouse has acknowledged some changes will be made to the Health and Safety Reform Bill. It is possible some industries such as mini-golf, will be reclassified as low risk following consultation on the bill.
It is also possible industries like quarrying, currently low risk, will be upgraded to high risk. Agriculture poses a problem for the Government, given its substantial hold of rural seats following the last two elections.
Worksafe New Zealand told Mr Woodhouse last year agriculture is the worst performing industry in the country in terms of health and safety, with 20 deaths in 2013, more than forestry, construction and manufacturing combined. Last year, there were another 20 deaths.
In the briefing, WorkSafe said the dairy, beef and sheep industries are the most dangerous sectors of all, with the highest accident and fatality tolls within agriculture.
There is a dangerous look about the concessions towards agriculture which imply National is favouring some of its major supporters.
But before Mr Woodhouse gets all the blame, there needs to be a review of the past when Mr Key faced a backbench revolt from MPs representing rural constituencies and former cabinet ministers with a lot of time on their hands.
Those MPs threatened to vote against the legislation, meaning it would fail, if their demands were not met.
Those constituent MPs with too little to do realise loss of support from their electorates may see them back in their previous day jobs. Mr Key has not faced this situation before.
Mr Woodhouse is no slouch and he must have realised losing a battle on health and safety with backbench MPs will have hurt Mr Key, and possibly his own stocks.
It is not too late to fix the health and safety legislation to protect the workers most in line to suffer injury or death at their workplace. But it will take some stern talking to renegade backbench MPs and that is unlikely to be successful.
