OHS Act - New Project 1

What CEO's, Directors, Management, Employers, Employees, Contractors and Visitors should know about Health and Safety!

Overview - Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 93

This overview was written in the interest of Health and Safety for Visitors, Contractors, Employees, Employers, Management, Directors and CEO's in South Africa, and is intended to explain the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 1993 in simple terms to all the role players.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (also referred to as the OHS Act) is a South African Statutory Law administered by the Department of Employment and Labour, the scope of the act is to provide for the health and safety of persons at work and for the protection of persons other than persons at work against the hazards to health and safety in connection with the activities of persons at work.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act governs the health and safety for the diverse industry of South Africa.

It regulates and control health and safety in all organisations, from a normal office environment to more hazardous environments like industrial plants and construction sites. The Occupational Health and Safety Act does not apply to mines, shipping, aeroplanes in flight or traffic incidents on public roads.

This overview of the OHS Act is written in the interest of the health and safety of workers in South Africa and is not intended as a substitute for the Occupational Health and Safety Act, it is intended to explain the Act in simple, non-legal terms to all the role players in the South African Occupational Health and Safety field, reference must always be to the full Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act, No. 85 of 1993 in addition to this Occupational Health and Safety act summary. The Occupational Health and Safety Act, states that employers should establish and maintain, as much as reasonably responsible, a work environment that is safe and does not pose a risk to the health of employees, contractors and visitors.

Before continuing we need to have a better understanding of the meaning of Health and Safety as referred to in the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The World Health Organisation defines health as “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of a disease or an illness”. Different definitions have been employed over time for various objectives, promoting health can be done by encouraging healthy behaviours like regular exercise, getting enough sleep, and minimising or avoiding unhealthy behaviours, according to the National Wellness Institute, there are six dimensions of wellness divided into emotional, occupational, physical, social, intellectual, and spiritual.

DEFINITION OF HEALTH

The definition of Health now includes psychological health which means the employer must address workplace hazards such as bullying, stress and fatigue, there are six aspects of health to know of as developed by Dr. Bill Hettler, this interdependent model is commonly referred to as the Six Dimensions of Wellness, it provides the categories from which the National Wellness Institute derives its resources and services, let us know learn more about each dimension.

Occupational Dimension: This dimension acknowledges the fulfilment and richness that work brings to a person’s life, the fundamental theory of occupational well- being is that professional advancement which correlates with one’s attitude toward one’s career

Physical Dimension: This dimension follows the philosophy of it is preferable to consume foods and beverages that promote excellent health instead of those that harm our health, it is also about being physically fit which is preferable to being out of shape.

Social Dimension: This dimension follows the philosophy of, it is better to contribute to the general welfare of our community than to think solely of ourselves, according to the following beliefs of social well-being, likewise living in conflict with others or the environment is not a preferable way of living - we need to live in peace and harmony.

Intellectual Dimension: This dimension acknowledges one’s imaginative and engaging mental activity, healthy individuals discover the opportunity to share their gifts with others while expanding their knowledge and abilities.

Spiritual Dimension: This dimension instead prevents the closing of our minds and becoming intolerant, it is preferable to reflect on the meaning of life for ourselves and be respectful of other people’s opinions, likewise it is preferable to live each day according to our values and beliefs rather than to act otherwise and experience self-doubt.

Emotional Dimension: This dimension values emotional awareness and acceptance, the level of optimism and happiness one experiences toward themselves and life is a key component of emotional wellness. It encompasses the ability to control one’s emotions and associated behaviours, such as a realistic assessment of one’s capabilities, the growth of one’s independence, and the ability to cope effectively with stress.

DEFINITION OF SAFETY

Safety is the process of protecting employees from work related illness and injury, the safety process starts by developing a company Environmental, Safety and

Health Policy statement and implementation of a workplace safety plan and program.

Safety is the state of being "safe": The condition of being protected from harm or other dangers, safety can also refer to the control of recognised hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk, refer to the Hierarchy of Controls.

Safety is important for moral reasons: Morally speaking, no one want to get hurt, and no one is happy that someone else gets hurt.

Safety is important for economic reasons: When you are involved in an accident, you spend money and this may be detrimental to your business.

Safety is the state of controlling hazards and their associated physical, psychological, and material conditions to protect people, assets, environments, and reputations.

Safety of workers (also known as worker safety and occupational health and safety) refers to the provision of a safe working environment, safe equipment, policies, and procedures in order to ensure workers' health and safety.

AIM AND BENEFITS OF THE OHS ACT

The main aim of the Act is to ensure the health and safety of employees at work, it also aims to protect people other than those employees at a workplace, from hazards arising out of or in connection with the activities of the employees at the workplace.

It can be said that the OHS Act is a pro-active attempt by Government to prevent and avoid work-related injuries and illnesses.

The Act governs the health and safety regulations for the diverse industry of South Africa, it regulates and controls workplace health and safety in all organisations, from a normal office environment to more hazardous environments like agriculture, industrial plants and construction sites, etc.

The mining industry relates to the Mine Health and Safety Act, Act 29 of 1996, etc.

Who can benefit from the OHS ACT overview?

All employers, employees, contractors, visitors and members of management, can benefit from the Occupational Health and Safety Act overview, the act is a lengthy document and may be difficult to fully understand, but it is important that the OHS Act is understood by as many within the company, especially management.

Background of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act 85 of 1993,

The OHS Act is the law that seeks to protect the well-being of workers, and is enforced by the Department of Labour, whose Inspectors may:

Enter any workplace without prior notice.

Request any document.

Inspect any condition, process, plant or article.

Take samples or seize any article.

Question or summon any person within the workplace.

Arrangements of OHS Act Sections and Regulations

The OHS Act has 50 sections.

1. Definitions,

2. Establishment of Advisory Council for Occupational Health and Safety,

3. Functions of Council,

4. Constitution of Council,

5. Period of office and remuneration of members of Council,

6. Establishment of technical committees of Council,

7. Health and safety policy,

8. General duties of employers to their employees,

9. General duties of employers and self-employed persons to persons other than their employees,

10. General duties of manufacturers and others regarding articles and substances for use at work,

11. Listed work,

12. General duties of employers regarding listed work,

13. Duty to inform,

14. General duties of employees at work,

15. Duty not to interfere with, damage or misuse things,

16. Chief executive officer charged with certain duties,

17. Health and safety representatives,

18. Functions of health and safety representatives,

19. Health and safety committees,

20. Functions of health and safety committees,

21. General prohibitions,

22. Sale of certain articles prohibited,

23. Certain deductions prohibited,

24. Report to inspector regarding certain incidents,

25. Report to chief inspector regarding occupational disease,

26. Victimisation forbidden,

27. Designation and functions of chief inspector,

28. Designation of inspectors by Minister,

29. Functions of inspectors,

30. Special powers of inspectors,

31. Investigations,

32. Formal inquiries,

33. Joint inquiries,

34. Obstruction of investigation or inquiry or presiding inspector or failure to render assistance,

35. Appeal against decision of inspector,

36. Disclosure of information,

37. Acts or omissions by employees or mandataries,

38. Offences, penalties and special orders of court,

39. Proof of certain facts,

40. Exemptions,

41. This Act not affected by agreements,

42. Delegation and assignment of functions,

43. Regulations,

44. Incorporation of health and safety standards in regulations,

45. Serving of notices 46. Jurisdiction of magistrates’ courts,

47. State bound,

48. Conflict of provisions,

49. Repeal of laws,

50. Short title and commencement.

OHS ACT Regulations

In summary there are twenty three sets of regulations, a National Code of Practice for Electrical Machinery in Hazardous Locations and Regulatory Requirements for Explosion-Protected Apparatus that form an inseparable part of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, these regulations provide specifications and requirements towards the area they govern.

General Regulations

1. General Administrative Regulations

2. General Safety Regulations

3. Major Hazards Installation Regulations

4. Regulations for hazardous Biological Agents

5. Exploxives Regulations

6. Construction Regulations

7. Regulations on Hazardous Work by Children in South Africa

Health Regulations

8. Commercial Diving Regulations

9. Environmental Regulations for Workplaces

10. Facilities Regulations

11. Lead Regulations

12. Noise-induced Hearing Loss Regulations

13. National Code of Practice for the Training of Lifting Machine Operators

14. Ergonomics Regulations, 2018

15. Asbestos Abatement Regulations

16. Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2020

Mechanical

17. Mechanical Driven Machinery Regulations

18. General Machinery Regulations

19. Lift, Escalator and Passenger Conveyor Regulations

20. Regulations Concerning the Certificate of Competency

21. Pressure Equipment Regulations

Electrical

22. Electrical Electrical Installation Regulations

23. Electrical Machinery Regulations

24. National Code of Practice for Electrical Machinery in Hazardous Locations

25. Regulatory Requirements for Explosion-Protected Apparatus

Notices

General Notices

COVID-19

Code of Practice: Managing Exposure to SARS-COV-2 in the Workplace, 2022

Basic rights of the Occupational Health and Safety Act

The four basic rights are:

1. The right to participate in health and safety.

2. The right to know about the hazards in the workplace.

3. The right to refuse unsafe work.

4. The right to no retaliation (revenge) for raising Occupational Health and Safety concerns.

Duties of the OHS Act Inspectors:

To inform employees about their rights and responsibilities according to the workplace health and safety legislation.
To encourage companies to provide training on safety regulations.
To ensure employees have all necessary equipment, such as protective wear, to perform their job duties safely.
To examine machinery to confirm compliance with health and safety regulations.
To produce a written report to an organisation providing recommendations for how to handle any potential health and safety risks.
To conduct root cause analyses to develop safety procedures for preventing recurrence of problems.
To plan and independently conduct inspections with the aim of ensuring compliance with the OHS Act, Regulations and incorporated Standards.
To confirm registration of with the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIF).
To confirm registration with the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).
To plan, investigate and finalise incidents and complaints reported pertaining to the OHS Act and relevant Regulations.
To enforce the OHS Act when necessary.
To issue fines or stopping work orders when identifying health and safety violations.
To appear in Court as a state witness.
To explain the role of the occupational health and safety (OHS) inspectors of the Department of Labour is explained.
To ensure the duties and rights of workers, as extended to them in the Act, are set out.
To ensure the roles and responsibilities of employers, manufacturers, designers, importers, suppliers and sellers, in ensuring the health and safety of workers are highlighted.
To clarify the functions of health and safety representatives and the safety committees.
To ensure that every CEO shall as far as is reasonably practicable ensure that the duties of his/her employer/s as contemplated in this Act, are properly discharged.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993, requires the employer to bring about and maintain, as far as reasonably practicable, a work environment that is safe and without risk to the health of the workers. This means that the employer must ensure that the workplace is free of hazardous substances, such as benzene, chlorine and micro organisms, articles, equipment, processes, etc. that may cause injury, damage or disease. Where this is not possible, the employer must inform workers of these dangers, how they may be prevented, and how to work safely, and provide other protective measures for a safe workplace.

However, it is not expected of the employer to take sole responsibility for health and safety, the Act is based on the principle that dangers in the workplace must be addressed by communication and cooperation between the workers and the employer. The workers and the employer must share the responsibility for health and safety in the workplace. Both parties must pro-actively identify dangers and develop control measures to make the workplace safe. In this way, the employer and the workers are involved in a system where health and safety representatives may inspect the workplace regularly and then report to a health and safety committee, who in turn may submit recommendations to the employer.

IMPORTANT SECTIONS OF THE ACT

OHSA Section 7 - Health and safety policy. (Responsibility of employers)

The chief inspector may direct employers in n writing to prepare a list of health and safety regulations in the workplace, which is a written policy concerning the protection of the health and safety of their employees at work.

This policy must:

§ Describe the organisation.

§ Convey how the health and safety policy will be carried out and reviewed.

§ Contain guidelines concerning the contents of the health and safety policy concerned.

§ Be prominently displayed where the employer’s employees normally report for duty.

OHSA Section 8 - Duties of employers to provide a safe working environment

Employer is responsible for Health and Safety Regulations:

§ This section is one of the most important sections of the Act and successful implementation of it will ensure that the company has dealt with and addressed most of its requirements and is adhering to government health and safety regulations.

§ The responsibility of employers to provide a safe working environment that is without risk to the health and safety of its employees is very clear. This section also encourages employers to evaluate working areas and carry out risk assessments and regular health and safety inspections.

§ The employer must evaluate all work, activities, and systems of work that could present potential risks for and to the company’s employees. This section also directs employers to provide and establish precautionary measures and systems to prevent workplace injuries. It also mentions “supervision”.

§ The appointed health and safety supervisor carries out the role of supervision, as well as representing the employer and management at health and safety committee meetings and in an overall health and safety capacity.

§ Inform employees

§ An important point to make is that the purpose of this Occupational Health and Safety act summary is to show that employers are responsible for ensuring that all employees clearly understand the potential risks and hazards present in the workplace. OHS act communication is critical and health and safety must be communicated to all employees. This can be achieved through toolbox talks, communication notice boards, newsletters, and the company intranet.

OHSA Section 13 - Duty to inform

Every employer has the duty to inform every employee and cause every employee to be made conversant with the hazards to his health and safety attached to any work which he has to perform, any article or substance which he has to produce, process, use, handle, store or transport and any plant or machinery which he is required or permitted to use, as well as with the precautionary measures which should be taken and observed with respect to those hazards.

Inform the health and safety representatives concerned beforehand of inspections, investigations or formal inquiries of which he has been notified by an inspector, inform a health and safety representative as soon as reasonably practicable of the occurrence of an incident in the workplace or section of the workplace for which such representative has been designated.

OHSA Section 14 - General duties of employees at work. (Employer responsibilities)

Employees are also responsible for their own health and safety and they should take reasonable care of those around them as well. Employees are to co-operate with any requirements set out in terms of health and safety, but the employer cannot expect co-operation if working conditions are unsafe. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the employee to obey all lawful instructions or rules that are implemented for the benefit of all employees.

§ Every employee shall at work shall take reasonable care for their own health and safety, and of other persons who may be affected by his/her acts or omissions;

§ ( b ) as regards any duty or requirement imposed on his employer or any other person by this Act, co-operate with such employer or person to enable that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with; ( c ) carry out any lawful order given to him, and obey the health and safety rules and procedures laid down by his employer or by anyone authorized thereto by his employer, in the interest of health or safety; ( d ) if any situation which is unsafe or unhealthy comes to his attention, as soon as practicable report such situation to his employer or to the health and safety representative for his workplace or section thereof, as the case may be, who shall report it to the employer; and ( e ) if he is involved in any incident which may affect his health or which has caused an injury to himself, report such incident to his employer or to anyone authorized thereto by the employer, or to his health and safety representative, as soon as practicable but not later than the end of the particular shift during which the

OHSA Section 24 - Employer must report certain incidents to the inspector

- if a person is injured or becomes ill, the employer must notify the Department of Labour. If any high-risk hazards present themselves (such as a chemical spill) the employer must report this as well. The Department of Labour will investigate the incidents and hazards and ensure that all employers and employees have done their best to abide by the OHS Act and try to prevent the incident from occurring. Where negligence is present, then that person could be held criminally liable for their actions or lack thereof.

SIGNIFICANT TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Definitions of an act help the reader to understand and interpret that part of legislation clearly and correctly. Without clear definitions the reader could not have a proper understanding of the legislator’s intention.

What happens when there is no definition for a specific word? The dictionary meaning will automatically apply. It is also significant to read what is not addressed in legislation, for example when legislation does not prohibit a person from doing something, then such person is, as far as this Act is concerned, allowed to do so, as long as it falls within the reasonable person principle. With the above mentioned in mind, lets have a look at certain of the OHS Act definitions as listed in Section1 of the OHS Act:

Employer: Means, any person who employs or provides work for any person and remunerates that person or expressly or tacitly undertakes to remunerate him, but excludes a labour broker as defined in section 1(1) of the Labour Relations act, 1956 (Act no. 28 of 1956).

Employee: Means, any person who is employed by or works for an employer and who receives or is entitled to receive any remuneration or who works under the direction or supervision of an employer or any other person.

Premises: Includes any building, vehicle, vessel, train or aircraft.

Workplace: Means any premises or place where a person performs work in the course of his employment.

Machinery: Means any article or combination of articles assembled, arranged or connected and which is used or intended to be used for converting any form of energy to perform work, or which is used or intended to be used, whether incidental thereto or not, for developing, receiving storing, containing, confining, transforming transmitting, transferring or controlling any form of energy

User: In relation to plant or machinery, means the person who uses plant or machinery for his own benefit or who has the right of control over the use of plant or machinery, but does not include a lessor of, or any person employed in connection with, that plant or machinery.

Properly used: Means used with reasonable care and with due regard to any information, instruction or advice supplied by the designer, manufacturer, importer, seller or supplier.

Based on Legislation in Section 1, of the Occupational Health and Safety Act

Reasonably practicable principle: Means ‘‘practicable’’ having regard to:

· The severity and scope of the hazard and risk concerned

· The state of knowledge reasonably available concerning the hazard and risk and of any means of removing or mitigating that hazard or risk

· The availability and suitability of means to remove or mitigate that hazard or risk

· The cost of removing or mitigating that hazard or risk in relation to the benefits deriving there from

Based on Legislation in section 1, of the Occupational Health and Safety Act

Legislation requires the employer to do everything ‘‘reasonably practicable’’ to protect people from harm. With this in mind, let’s start with the first mentioned, the ‘‘severity and scope of the hazard and risk concerned’’.

Employers need to look at their particular work situation and ask questions like:

· Did we identify hazards, what can go wrong?

· Did we look at who might be harmed?

· How can people be affected?

· What could be done about it?

Risk assessment could prove to be valuable in this regard. A risk assessment is basically a careful examination of what, related to the work activities of an organisation, could course harm to people or damage to property. During the risk assessment process we identify the hazards associated with an activity (physical task, or process at hand ect), to assess the seriousness of these hazards and to formulate systems of work, training or other methods (controls) to reduce the associated risks to a minimum or at least to an acceptable level.

After evaluating these work related hazards, risks and dangers the employer should determine the severity of the hazards or risks concerned. This mainly refers to ‘‘seriousness of these hazards’’ as previously mentioned. During the risk assessment process, the risk will be given a ‘‘risk value’’ in order to determine the severity of the risk involved (Example: high-, medium- or low risk level).

The main aim should be to ‘‘removing or mitigating that hazard or risk’’. If the hazard or risk cannot be removed, the next potion would be to apply appropriate steps or measures to mitigate it. The dictionary defines mitigate as ‘‘lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of’’. In the case where an employer can not remove or eliminate a hazard or risk, steps should be taken to lessen it (lessen the seriousness or extent of the hazard or risk concerned).

‘‘state of knowledge and means available’’ – When dealing with this aspect, both the severity of the risk involved (risk level), as well as the ‘‘removing or mitigating that hazard or risk’’ should be taken into consideration. In the case where something has to be done in order to remove or reduce the risk to an acceptable level, the employer should obtain knowledge or means in order to take the necessary steps or precautions. It implies that employers need to make informed decisions based on knowledge that is reasonably available. Existing knowledge could be gained either locally or internationally. Knowledge or means must firstly, be aimed at removing and secondly, at mitigating the hazard. In the case where such knowledge or means does exist the following aspects should be taken into consideration.

‘‘the availability and suitability or means’’ – Do we have access to it? How suitable or appropriate is it for our specific circumstances?

‘‘The cost of removing or mitigating that hazard or risk in relation to the benefits deriving there from’’ In general this implies that the employers need to take reasonable measures to safeguard employees and other persons wherever possible, but without stretching to excessive costs over health and safety gains. What amount of money will employers have to spend in order to lower the unacceptable risk to an acceptable one? Imagine a pair of scales with cost on one side and risk on the other.

If the risk from a hazard outweighs the cost of reducing the risk, action must be taken. If costs substantially outweigh risks, take less costly action or no action if there are no alternatives. Example, spending R5 000 to prevent the occasional bruised finger would not be reasonable, but spending R 50 000 on a machine guard to stop an arm amputation would be. Employers have to use their discretion in order to establish whether the amount of money that will be spent is justifiable in relation to the benefits deriving from it.

But what happens in the case where it is not ‘‘reasonably practicable’’ to take action against an unacceptable risk? Remember that the employers are still obligated to deal with the risk at hand. In other words it cannot just be disregarded; the employer still needs to take reasonable steps to ensure that a workplace is safe and without risk to the health and safety of their employees and others involved. Reasonable steps exercised by the employer could for example include the following:

· inform the employees of the decision and measures taken to protect them

· what type of instruction, training, supervision, personal protective equipment etc. are needed to protect them

· Assess if the reasonable steps actually works in order to provide a safe and healthy workplace.

Although we take great care to ensure that the information on our website is accurate and up to date, readers are advised to always consult with a Labour Law Practitioner before acting on the information. The information on this website does not constitute legal advice. Kindly take notice of our disclaimer policy published at the bottom of the home page of this website.

Duties of Employers under the OHS Act

While the duty of care of employers under the 2004 OHS Act are more or less the same as what they were under the 1985 Act (although they have been slightly 're-arranged'), the definition of health has been amended. The new definition is as follows:

"health" includes psychological health

This means that the employer must address workplace hazards such as bullying, stress and fatigue.

There are a number of 'duty holders' under the OHS Act, but for employees (and others) the most important of these is the employer.

Page Overview:

· Section 5: Definitions of employer and employee

· Section 20: The concept of ensuring health and safety

· Section 21: Duties of the employer

· Section 22: Duties of employers to monitor health and conditions, etc

· Section 23: Duties of employers to other persons

· Other employer duties

· See Also

Section 5: Definitions

· employee means a person employed under a contract of employment or contract of training;

· employer means a person who employs one or more other persons under contracts of employment or contracts of training;

In changes to the OHS Act implemented on March 22, 2022, the definition of employer and employee has been extended to provide additional protections to labour hire employees. Labour Hire workers will now be 'employees' of the 'host' employer as well as employees of the labour hire firm. Read more: WorkSafe media release

Specifically, Section 5A Extended definition of employer and employee - labour hire

For the purposes of this Act, a person is taken to be an employer of a worker, and the worker is taken to be an employee of the person, if a provider of labour hire services supplies the worker to, recruits the worker for or places the worker with the person to perform work for the person.

That is, a labour hire worker is treated as an 'employee' of the host employer.

Host employer – (in line with the Labour Hire Authority) people or organisations who run businesses that use labour hire workers to perform work in their business

In considering the duties of various duty holders, we must keep uppermost in our minds what the Act states in in subsequent sections.

Section 20: The concept of ensuring health and safety

1. To avoid doubt, a duty imposed on a person by this Part or the regulations to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, health and safety requires the person -

a. to eliminate risks to health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable; and

b. if it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate risks to health and safety, to reduce those risks so far as is reasonably practicable.

Section 21: Duties of the employer

1. To provide and maintain so far as reasonably practicable .... a working environment that is safe and without risk to health.

2. (without in any way limiting part 1) the employer must:

a. provide and maintain (so far as reasonably practicable) safe plant (machinery, tools) and systems of work

b. ensure that (so far as reasonably practicable) the use, handling, storage & transport of plant and substances (chemicals) is safe & without risks to health

c. ensure that (so far as reasonably practicable) the workplace under his control is safe and without risks to health

d. provide adequate facilities (washrooms, toilets, lockers, dining areas, first aid, etc) again, so far as reasonably practicable

e. provide as much information, instruction, training and supervision to the workers so that they can work safely, etc NOTE - this is NOT qualified by 'so far as is reasonably practicable'.
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WorkSafe has produced a guideline (made under Section 12 of the OHS Act, 2004): How WorkSafe applies the law in relation to Reasonably Practicable which explains the concept and its application.
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3. Who is an employee??
This part explains that for parts 1 & 2, if a company contracts work out to a contractor, then that contractor, and the employees of that contractor are considered to be employees of the original company.

Example: Mary works for Supercleaners, head office in St Kilda Rd. She works in the evenings at the AJ Department Store in Exhibition St in the city. Supercleaners are her employers and must provide information and training, safe & healthy equipment, protective clothing, chemicals and systems of work, etc.

But as she is working in the AJ Department Store building, AJ has the responsibility to make sure the building is safe (eg floors, lifts, exits, any equipment on site and so on).

Section 22 - Duties of employers to monitor health and conditions, etc

1. An employer must, so far as is reasonably practicable:

a. monitor the health of the employees; and

b. monitor the conditions at the workplace under their management and control (eg heat, cold, dust levels, fumes, and so on) ; and

c. provide information to employees (including in appropriate other languages) on health and safety, including the names of who to take an ohs issue/enquiry to

2. An employer must, so far as is reasonably practicable:

a. keep information and records on the health and safety of employees; and

b. employ experts (people who are 'suitably qualified') to provide advice

Note: There is a WorkSafe Position on Section 22(2)(b) 'suitably qualified' (made under Section 12 of the Act) which provides an explanation of what this means, and also a useful handbook for employers: Getting help to improve health and safety

Section 23: Duties of employers to other persons

Under this section an employer has a legal duty to make sure that the health and safety of OTHER people (not employees) is not put at risk from anything the employer, his business or his workers might do.

This duty also applies to self-employed persons under Section 24.

Other employer duties:

In addition, the 2004 Act sets out a number of other duties for employers, and these have been summarised on separate pages. These are:

· Part 4 - Duties of employers to consult

· Part 5 - Duties relating to notifying WorkSafe of certain incidents - this duty was previously covered under separate regulations.

· Part 7 - Obligations to health and safety reps & obligations with regard to resolution of ohs issues

· Employers, like other parties including workers, can also be charged with the new offence of 'reckless endangerment'.