Duties of employers and self-employed persons

Employers and self-employed persons must take reasonable care to protect their own health and safety at work and, so far as is practicable, avoid harming the health and safety of other people.

Employers must also ensure that, so far as is practicable, other people are not harmed by the work undertaken by their employees.

Source: Section 9, Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995

Basic Principle

Under the Act, a self-employed person means a person who works for gain or reward other than as an employee, regardless of whether he or she employs any other person.

Duties under section 9 of the Act require employers and self-employed persons to take reasonable care for their own health and safety at work. In addition, they must, so far as is practicable, ensure the health and safety of other people.

In the case of employers, they must also ensure, as far as practicable, that the work of their employees does not harm others.

The duty is further extended to cover people other than the employees.

Protecting Non-employees

Non-employees covered under section 9 of the Act include groups such as customers, hospital patients, visitors to the workplace, including police, inspectors and other government officials, voluntary workers, students, an employee's family, and any other person who may be affected by the work activity.

The main point here is that it is not confined to the workplace. The duty refers to harm that may occur as a result of the work undertaken by the employees.

Employers are required to take measures that are practicable and reasonable and all the points raised in the discussion on "The Meaning of Practicable" should be taken into account.

Example:

It is reasonable to expect that members of the public who pass by a construction site would not be exposed to the risk of injury from objects dislodged or dropped during crane lifting operations.

The principal employer would be expected to bear the cost of setting up the site so that all crane lifts would occur on the site rather than over the footpaths and public roadways. If it were not practicable to confine all lifts to the site, the employer would be expected to establish other safeguards necessary for the protection of the public.

Protecting an Employee's Family

Work activity involving hazardous substances has the potential to harm members of an employee's family. The health and safety policies and procedures should ensure that employees are not transporting substances, such as contaminated dust or fibres etc on work clothes, from the workplace to their homes.

Where hazardous substances such as paint stripper, solvents and rust removers, are stored in a work vehicle which may be parked at the family home, procedures should ensure that children do not have access to the substances. The system should include the provision of information on substances which may be harmful, proper storage in the vehicle to prevent spillage, the provision of locks to ensure that substances are secure, training on action to be taken in an emergency, and regular checks that safe work practices are followed.

The same applies to plant such as power tools or hazardous substances which are taken to the family home at the end of each working day.

At workplaces where the family lives on site, eg farms, every employer or self-employed person has a duty to ensure that children, other family members and visitors, are not injured or harmed by work activity and hazards that may be present.