In my world "new" means it's got Autolube.......
Not seen a new BRP box close up. 80s/ 90s Merc had what I described, i.e a toggle switch. The killcord toggle looped over the switch and was held under the lip by the switch being in the "run" position. Had the advantage that if the helm went over the side, the crew could just flicjk the switch to "run", restart & go fetch. Down side was it was all to easy to drive off & leave the killcord back in your house.
I suspect helath & safety might have meant they swapped to something more "Yam-esque" where you stuff a plastic yoke up behind a button, which essentially holds the switch in the "run" position. remove that and it springs back to "off". No Lanyard = no yoke = no go. I.e you can't drive off without it being in there.
Hence my question. if you have the "button " type & it runs without the cord in place, you have a problem with the switch. If it's the toggle switch style, then it's too easy to run wthout the killcord.
Having said that, if it's a "button" type check someone hasn't left a yoke in there - I've seen a few situations where people cut the cord off & just leave the yoke behind the switch so it will start without the "hassle" of the cord......