Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

3.3 
Employers’ responsibilities
Employers have duties under both criminal and civil law. 
The civil law duties are covered in Chapter 1. The gen-
eral duties of employers under HSW Act relate to:
➤
the health, safety and welfare at work of employees 
and other workers, whether part-time, casual, tempor-
ary, homeworkers, on work experience, Government 
Training Schemes or on site as contractors – i.e. any-
one working under their control or direction
➤
the health and safety of anyone who visits or 
uses the workplace
➤
the health and safety of anyone who is allowed to 
use the organization’s equipment
➤
the health and safety of those affected by the work 
activity, for example neighbours, and the general 
public.
Other duties on employers are covered in Chapter 1 and 
the summary of the HSW Act in Chapter 17.
3.4 
Employees’ responsibilities
Employees have specifi c responsibilities under the HSW 
Act, which are:
➤
to take reasonable care for the health and safety of 
themselves and of other persons who may be affected 
by their acts or omissions at work. This involves the 
same wide group that the employer has to cover, not 
just the people on the next desk or bench
➤
to cooperate with employers in assisting them to 
fulfi l their statutory duties
➤
not to interfere with deliberately or misuse anything 
provided, in accordance with health and safety legis-
lation, to further health and safety at work.
3.5 
Organizational health and safety 
responsibilities
In addition to the legal responsibilities on management, 
there are many specifi c responsibilities imposed by each 
organization’s health and safety policy. Appendix 3.1 to 
this chapter shows a typical summary of the health and 
safety responsibilities and accountability of each level 
of the line organization to provide an understanding of 
how health and safety responsibilities and accountability 
are integrated within the total organization. The respon-
sibilities cover directors, senior managers, site man-
agers, department managers, supervisors and employees. 
Many organizations will not fi t this exact structure but 
most will have those who direct, those who manage or 
supervise and those who have no line responsibility but 
have responsibilities to themselves and fellow workers.
Because of the special role and importance of 
directors, these are covered here in detail.