Heads of Departments and Managers have specific obligations under the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015.
What are my legal obligations for workplace health and safety?
Every PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking), manager and supervisor must take reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence to make sure the workplace and work is safe. As a manager, you are representing the worker in the work situation, and so have specific responsibilities in relation to health and safety.
These include:
- Knowing which critical risks apply to your work area
- Controlling risks and hazards through elimination and minimisation
- Training and/or supervising work to ensure safety of workers
- Reporting, recording, and investigating accidents and incidents
- Having emergency procedures in place for all potential emergencies
- Involve workers in health and safety
So, what is a 'workplace'?
As defined in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015:
A workplace:
- Means a place where work is being carried out, or is customarily carried out, for a business or undertaking
- Includes any place where a worker goes, or is likely to be, while at work
Place includes:
- A vehicle, vessel, aircraft, ship, or other mobile structure
- Any waters and any installation on land, on the bed of any waters, or floating on any waters
