Posted: Mar 11 '13

OHS Employer and Employee Responsibilities

Occupational Health and Safety Legislation is becoming increasingly clear on the responsibilities of the employer, and the employee.

Employer Responsibilities include:

The employer or designate, for example a supervisor, is responsible to ensure that:

a) Adequate and required steps have been taken to eliminate or control all hazards at the worksite.
b) All applicable Legislative requirements, the Code of Practice and any other facilities specific standards, rules, procedures, and practices are being followed.
c) Ensure all workers are “competent” to perform duties assigned. Competent essentially means the workers have received training, and they can safely perform the task according to the procedure, and without supervision

Employee Responsibilities include:

The employee is responsible to ensure that:

a) They have received training to perform task or duties assigned, if they have not received training, they are required to mention this to their employer.
b) They must follow the training they received to perform the job assigned.
c) They follow all applicable Legislative requirements, this Code of Practice and any other facilities specific standards, rules, procedures, and practices.

These are general requirements of workers and the employer. OHS legislation is very clear on both parties doing everything reasonable practicable to ensure the safety of everyone at the worksite.