CURRENT LEGAL ARTICLES

As an employee, your duties at work include:

• Taking reasonable care to protect the health and safety of yourself and other people in the workplace
• Not engaging in improper behaviour that will endanger yourself or others
• Not being under the influence of drink or drugs in the workplace
• Undergoing any reasonable medical assessment (or other assessment) if requested by your employer
• Reporting any defects (faults) in equipment or the workplace which might be a danger to health and safety

Employers must ensure their employees’ safety, health and welfare at work as reasonably practicable.

To prevent workplace injuries and ill-health, the employer must:

• Provide and maintain a safe workplace (which uses safe plant and equipment)
• Prevent risks from employees using any article or substance and from exposure to physical agents, noise and vibration
• Prevent any improper conduct or behaviour likely to put the safety, health and welfare of employees at risk
• Provide instruction and training to employees on health and safety
• Provide protective clothing and equipment to employees
• Appoint a competent person as the organisation’s safety officer

Every employer must carry out a workplace risk assessment to:

• Identify any hazards in the workplace
• Assess the risks arising from such hazards
• Identify the steps to be taken to deal with any risks

The employer must also prepare a safety statement based on the risk assessment. The report should include details of people in the workforce who are responsible for safety issues. Employees should have access to this statement, and employers should review it regularly.