Summary of Employers and Employees Duties

The Employer's Duties to his Employees (Section 2)

General Duty

It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.

Particular Duties

Safe Plant and Systems

Every employer is responsible for 'the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable safe and without risks to health'.

Safe Use of Substances and Articles

Every employer must make 'arrangements for ensuring so far as is reasonably practicable the safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances'.

Instruction and Training

Every employer is responsible for 'the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health and safety at work of his employees'.

Safe Workplace

Every employer is required 'so far as is reasonably practicable as regards any place of work under the employers control, for the maintenance of it in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks'.

Safe Environment and Welfare Facilities

Every employer is responsible for 'the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable safe without risks to health and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work'.

Safety Policy

It shall be the duty of every employer to prepare and as often as may be appropriate, revise a written statement of his general policy with respect to the health and safety at work of his organisation and arrangements for the time being in force for carrying out that policy, and to bring the statement and any revision of it to the notice of all his employees.

The Employers Duties to Non Employees (Section 3)

It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable the health and safety of persons not in his employment.

Employees Duties (Sections 7 and 8)

It shall be the duty of every employee while at work:

• 'to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work;'
• 'as regards any duty or requirement imposed on his employer or any other person by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions, to co-operate with him so far as is necessary to enable that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with;'
• 'not to intentionally, or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything provided in the interests of health, safety or welfare in pursuance of any of the relevant statutory provisions'.

Controllers of Premises (Section 4)

Anyone with control of non domestic premises used by people who are not their employees have a duty to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that the premises, means of access and egress and any plant or substances provided for use are safe and without risks to health.

Designers, Manufacturers, Importers, and Suppliers of Articles and Substances Used at Work (Section 6)

Have a duty to ensure that articles and substances so far as is reasonably practicable are safe and without risks to health to use.

The general duties outlined above are further developed by means of Regulations specific to certain topics e.g. Manual Handling, Display Screen Equipment Regulations etc.

In addition to the Regulations it is now common practice for Regulations to be accompanied by Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPS) or Guidance Notes. These documents give guidance on “best practice” to comply with the legislation.

Failure to comply with an ACOP is not in itself an offence but the person must prove that they complied with the relevant legislation in an equal manner.

Types of Statutory Duty

There are two main types of duty in the Health and Safety at Work Act.  These duties allow the employer to allocate resources to control hazards depending on the level of the hazard and the possible outcome.

Absolute Duty

This applies to high-risk circumstances when the level of risk would be unacceptable unless certain steps were taken.  In this case the words “must” or “shall” appear in the legislation and the employer must comply with the requirements or cease the activity.

(In certain circumstances there may be a defence in law that the person exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence.)  (Food Safety Act.)

Qualified Duty

There are two main types of qualified duty:

As far as practicable

This means something less than physically possible taking into account current technical knowledge and feasibility.

As far as reasonably practicable

This phrase qualifies almost all of the general duties in the Health and Safety at Work Act and allows the employer to balance the cost of action (in terms of time and inconvenience as well as finance) against the risk.

If the risk is insignificant compared to the cost then the steps do not need to be taken.

If, however, the risk is high then it must be eliminated or controlled.