What are the responsibilities in the workplace ?
In the workplace, both employer and employee have certain responsibilities. These responsibilities fall broadly under health and safety directives (to avoid personal injury) and the law of tort. In general terms, an employer may be held responsible for the actions undertaken by his or her employee during the time that the employee is deemed to be working for them. Thus any act of negligence by an employee during their hours of employment may cause a valid claim to be made against the employer for liability damages.
An employer has many statutory duties of care towards their employees, particularly in respect of the employees’ health and safety whilst at work. As a starting point, the employees should be made aware of all health and safety procedures, for example the fire exit routes and assembly points should be made known to all employees and this knowledge reinforced with clearly marked signs. Any hazardous substances should be kept in a restricted and locked area with access to only specified personnel; any such hazardous substances should be clearly marked with universally recognised symbols. Inflammable materials should be treated with equal caution. It is not sufficient for an employer to simply seal off an area that is potentially hazardous; they must ensure that anyone who might inadvertently wander into such an area for some unforeseen reason will be made aware of the potential health risk to them.
The employer is also responsible for ensuring that the correct attire is worn in relation to health and safety issues. On a building site, for example, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that all employees and visitors to the building site wear a hard hat at all times. Signs should also be clearly displayed to the effect that hard hats are required to be worn. Any employee failing to follow this rule is guilty of gross misconduct and could face dismissal as a result. In a factory where there are potential machine oil and grease spillages, the employer is primarily responsible for ensuring that safety boots or shoes are worn. Even an office manager visiting such a shop floor area is required to wear safety footwear in the interest of their own safety, but it remains the employer’s responsibility to enforce it. Again, any defiance of this policy is a dismissible offence, although the decision to dismiss or not remains entirely at the employer’s discretion.
The employer is responsible for ensuring that all machinery and equipment is properly maintained. When the machinery or equipment is being operated it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that only employees with the correct degree of technical knowledge operate the machinery and that all machine guards and cut off devices are in place before the machine is used. Because of the potential for personal injury to the operator and / or fellow employees, some employers now use random drugs and alcohol testing machines to ensure that operators are sober when operating machinery, as drugs and alcohol tend to impair clarity and speed of judgement.
An employee who is in the position of representing their employer and / or in direct contact with the public should be suitably skilled in their role where a duty of care is perceived. It is, however, the employer that is primarily responsible for taking all steps to ensure that such suitable qualifications are held by their employees and it is to the employer that any subsequent plaintiff will look if any loss or damage is sustained through the employee’s negligence. For example, a hospital should ensure that the certificates and credentials of its nursing, consulting and operating staff are authentic. Educational establishments and employing entities that come into contact with persons under the age of sixteen are now responsible for ensuring that all employees are criminal records (CRB) checked before they are allowed to come into contact with or view records relating to persons under sixteen. This CRB check requirement also extends into the areas of vulnerable adult contact, for example the mentally impaired.
For work conducted in an office, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that sufficient breaks are given away from computers. Efforts should also be made to reduce the potential for repetitive strain or other common office injuries. It is not just physical injuries that an employer can be held responsible for, they are also responsible for taking all practical and reasonable allowances when they become aware that an employee is suffering from a stress related condition. If the stress is related to work, then the employer is responsible for alleviating the problem to the extent that this is practicable.