Occupational health & safety: an overview of employers' obligations

Published Friday, 23 February 2001 by by Tina Doan

A member of FindLaw’s editorial team wrote this article. If you need legal content or editorial services for your website please contact Huntly Gordon The occupational health and safety of employees and those visiting your workplace is an important issue for both employees and employers. An employee has a legal right to work in a safe environment. Therefore, as employers you have an obligation to ensure that your employees are protected from health and safety risks arising out of their work activities. Generally, this means that you have to:
  • Provide and maintain safe systems of work
  • Make arrangements for ensuring the safe use, handling, storage and transport of equipment or substances
  • Provide necessary information, instruction, training and supervision
Obligations on employers In addition to the general duty of care to secure the health, safety and welfare of employees, there are many regulations which impose extensive additional requirements in relation to particular work processes, specific industries and hazards and administrative issues. In New South Wales, the government body charged with the administration of workplace safety laws is WorkCover NSW. Risk Management An integral part of an employer's duty is to engage in risk management processes in the workplace. This is a system which identifies the occupational health and safety risks that are relevant to your workplace. A risk management system is an ongoing process. It should be flexible and up-to-date to reflect the safety issues associated with your daily operations. A risk management system involves the following steps:
  • Identifying the hazards This involves keeping records of accidents and injuries, conducting safety inspections of the workplace and listing all plant and hazardous substances.
  • Assessing the risks This involves assessing how likely it is that a hazardous event will occur and what the consequences are likely to be.
  • Controlling the risks The aim here is to eliminate the risk if possible. If the risk cannot be removed, then it should be minimised using substitution, modifications, isolation or engineering controls. Back-up controls such as personal protective equipment can assist but should only be used as a last resort. All these control measures should be constantly reviewed to maintain their effectiveness. Areas for improvement should also be monitored.
Reporting accidents In cases of death or serious injury to an employee, you need to notify WorkCover NSW immediately. You must also send WorkCover a completed accident report form within seven days of the incident. Under the legislation, you must keep a Register of Injuries (in which all injuries are recorded) at each place of work. Good reporting and recording of workplace accidents and illnesses will assist you to keep track of workplace hazards and therefore it is an important tool in risk management. An occupational health and safety program An occupational health and safety program at your workplace should cover the following:
  • Training and education
  • Work design, workplace design and standard work methods
  • Changes to work methods and practice, including those associated with technological changes
  • Safety rules, including penalties
  • Emergency procedures and drills
  • Provision of OH & S equipment, services and facilities
  • Workplace inspections and evaluations
  • Reporting and recording of incidents, accidents, injuries and illnesses
  • Provision of information to employees
  • Contractors and sub-contractors
Also, the program should be reviewed and continually updated. This is to ensure that your business is adopting the best possible measures to minimise the risk of injury in the workplace. Occupational health and safety committees In New South Wales, you are not required to have an OH & S committee if you have less than 20 employees. If you do have 20 or more employees and a majority of them requests an OH & S committee, then you must establish one. The principal role of the committee is to develop and implement an OH & S policy for the workplace. OH & S committees can:
    Help to resolve any health and safety issue
  • Carry out regular safety inspections
  • Develop a system to record accidents and incidents
  • Make recommendations to management about improving health and safety
  • Have access to any information about risks to health and safety from any equipment or substance or occupational disease
A failure to provide a safe working environment may lead to serious injury or even death. In addition, it may also expose you and your business to legal action by an employee or WorkCover. The employee may be able to claim damages. Recent legislation passed that will soon operate in New South Wales imposes a new legal duty on employers to consult their employees when decisions are made which may affect their health and safety. Failure to consult may attract a penalty of $27,500. Tina Doan BCom, LLB (UNSW) Legal Practitioner February 2001