PART II

General Duties

6. —(1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of all his employees.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of an employer's duty under subsection (1), the matters to which that duty extends include in particular—

(a) as regards any place of work under the employer's control, the design, the provision and the maintenance of it in a condition that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health;

(b) so far as is reasonably practicable, as regards any place of work under the employer's control, the design, the provision and the maintenance of safe means of access to and egress from it;

(c) the design, the provision and the maintenance of plant and machinery that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health;

(d) the provision of systems of work that are planned, organised, performed and maintained so as to be, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health;

(e) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety and health at work of his employees;

(f) in circumstances in which it is not reasonably practicable for an employer to control or eliminate hazards in a place of work under his control, or in such circumstances as may be prescribed, the provision and maintenance of such suitable protective clothing or equipment, as appropriate, that are necessary to ensure the safety and health at work of his employees;

(g) the preparation and revision as necessary of adequate plans to be followed in emergencies;

(h) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, safety and the prevention of risk to health at work in connection with the use of any article or substance;

(i) the provision and the maintenance of facilities and arrangements for the welfare of his employees at work; and

(j) the obtaining, where necessary, of the services of a competent person (whether under a contract of employment or otherwise) for the purpose of ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety and health at work of his employees.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a person who is undergoing training for employment or receiving work experience, other than when pursuing a course of study in a university, school or college, shall be deemed to be an employee of the person whose undertaking (whether carried on by him for profit or not) is for the time being the immediate provider to that person of training or work experience, and employee, employer and cognate words and expressions shall be construed accordingly.

7. —(1) It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not exposed to risks to their safety or health.

(2) It shall be the duty of every self-employed person to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not exposed to risks to their safety or health.

(3) In such cases as may be prescribed, it shall be the duty of every employer and self-employed person, in the prescribed circumstances, and in the prescribed manner to give to persons (not being his employees) who may be affected by the way in which he conducts his undertaking the prescribed information about such aspects of the way he conducts his undertaking as might affect their safety or health.

8. —(1) This section has effect for imposing on persons duties in relation to those who are not their employees but who are either the employees of another person or are self-employed and who for the purposes of carrying out work use a non-domestic place of work made available to them or in which they may for the purposes of carrying out work use any article or substance provided for their use there, and it applies to places of work so made available and other non-domestic places of work used in connection with them.

(2) It shall be the duty of each person who has control, to any extent, of any place of work or any part of any place of work to which this section applies or of the means of access thereto or egress therefrom or of any article or substance in such place of work to take such measures as is reasonable for a person in his position to take to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the place of work, all means of access thereto, or egress therefrom available for use by persons using the place of work, and any article or substance in the place of work or, as the case may be, provided for use therein, is or are safe and without risks to health.

(3) Where a person has, by virtue of any contract or tenancy, an obligation of any extent as to—

(a) the maintenance or repair of any place of work to which this section applies or any means of access thereto or egress therefrom; or

(b) the safety of or the absence of risk to health arising from any article or substance in any such place of work;

that person shall be treated, for the purposes of subsection (2), as being a person who has control of the matters to which his obligation extends.

(4) Any reference in this section to a person having control of any place of work or matter is a reference to a person having control of the place of work or matter in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business or other undertaking (whether for profit or not).

9. —(1) It shall be the duty of every employee while at work—

(a) to take reasonable care for his own safety, health and welfare and that of any other person who may be affected by his acts or omissions while at work;

(b) to co-operate with his employer and any other person to such extent as will enable his employer or the other person to comply with any of the relevant statutory provisions;

(c) to use in such manner so as to provide the protection intended, any suitable appliance, protective clothing, convenience, equipment or other means or thing provided (whether for his use alone or for use by him in common with others) for securing his safety, health or welfare while at work; and

(d) to report to his employer or his immediate supervisor, without unreasonable delay, any defects in plant, equipment, place of work or system of work, which might endanger safety, health or welfare, of which he becomes aware.

(2) No person shall intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse any appliance, protective clothing, convenience, equipment or other means or thing provided in pursuance of any of the relevant statutory provisions or otherwise, for securing the safety, health or welfare of persons arising out of work activities.

10. —(1) It shall be the duty of any person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies any article for use at work—

(a) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the article is designed, constructed, tested and examined so as to be safe and without risk to health when used by a person at a place of work;

(b) to take such steps as are necessary to secure that persons supplied by that person with the article are provided with adequate information about the use for which it is designed or has been tested, and about any conditions relating to the article so as to ensure that, when in use, dismantled or disposed of, it will be safe and without risk to health; and

(c) to take such steps as are necessary to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons so supplied are provided with all such revisions of information provided to them by virtue of paragraph (b) as are necessary by reason of its becoming known that anything relating to the article gives rise to a serious risk to safety or health.

(2) It shall be the duty of any person who undertakes the design or manufacture of any article for use at work to carry out or arrange for the carrying out of any necessary research with a view to the discovery and, so far as is reasonably practicable, the elimination or minimisation of any risks to safety or health to which the design or article may give rise.

(3) It shall be the duty of any person who erects or installs any article for use at a place of work where that article is to be used by persons at work to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that nothing about the way in which the article is erected or installed makes it unsafe, or a risk to health when in use at a place of work.

(4) It shall be the duty of any person who manufactures or imports or supplies any substance—

(a) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the substance will be safe and without risks to health when it is being used by a person at a place of work;

(b) to carry out or arrange for the carrying out of such testing and examination as may be necessary for the performance of the duty imposed on him by paragraph (a) and whenever requested by an inspector provide or cause to be provided to him evidence, including documentary evidence of such testing and examination;

(c) to take such steps as are necessary to ensure that persons supplied by that person with the substance are provided with adequate information about any risk to safety or health to which the inherent properties of the substance may give rise, about the results of any relevant tests which have been carried out on or in connection with the substance and about any conditions necessary to ensure that the substance will be safe and without risk to health when the substance is being used or being disposed of.

(5) It shall be the duty of any person who undertakes the manufacture of any substance, or in a case where the manufacture was undertaken outside the State it shall be the duty of the importer, to carry out or arrange for the carrying out of any necessary research with a view to the discovery and, so far as is reasonably practicable, the elimination or minimisation of any risks to safety or health to which the substance may give rise when in use.

(6) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section shall be construed as requiring a person to repeat any testing, examination or research which has been carried out otherwise than by him or at his instance, in so far as it is reasonable for him to rely on the results thereof, for the purposes of those provisions.

(7) Any duty imposed on a person by any of the preceding provisions of this section shall extend only to things done in the course of a trade, business or other undertaking carried on by him (whether for profit or not) and to matters within his control.

(8) Where a person designs, manufactures, imports or supplies an article for use at work and does so for or to another person on the basis of a written undertaking by that other person to take specified steps that are sufficient to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the article shall be safe and without risks to health when it is being used at a place of work, the said undertaking shall have the effect of relieving the first mentioned person from the duty imposed by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) to such extent as is reasonable having regard to the terms of the said undertaking.

(9) Nothing in subsections (7) or (8) shall relieve any person who imports any article or substance from any duty in respect of anything which—

(a) in the case of an article designed outside the State, was done by and in the course of any trade, profession or other undertaking carried on by, or was within the control of, the person who designed the article; or

(b) in the case of an article or substance manufactured outside the State, was done by and in the course of any trade, profession or other undertaking carried on by, or was within the control of, the person who manufactured the article or substance.

(10) Where a person (hereinafter referred to in this subsection as “the supplier”) supplies, including hires or leases, to another person (hereinafter referred to in this subsection as “the customer”) any article or substance for use at work, under a hire-purchase agreement, a leasing agreement or credit-sale agreement, and the supplier—

(a) carried on the business of financing the acquisition of goods by others by means of such agreements, and

(b) in the course of that business acquired his interest in the article or substance supplied to the customer as a means of financing its acquisition by the customer from a third party (hereinafter referred to in this subsection as “the dealer”),

the dealer and not the supplier, shall be treated for the purposes of this section as supplying the article or substance to the customer, and any duty imposed by this section on suppliers shall, accordingly, fall on the dealer and not on the supplier.

(11) For the purposes of this section an absence of safety or risk to health shall be disregarded in so far as the case is or in relation to which it would arise is shown to be one the occurrence of which could not reasonably be foreseen; and in determining whether any duty imposed by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsections (1) or (4) has been performed regard shall be had to any relevant information or advice which has been provided to any person by the person by whom the article has been designed, manufactured, imported or supplied or, as the case may be, by the person by whom the substance has been manufactured, imported or supplied.

(12) Without prejudice to the generality of this section, the Minister may prescribe specifications or other requirements with which the design, manufacture and construction of any article, which is of a prescribed class or description, shall comply.

(13) Where an article or substance is used at work, and a request is made in that behalf by an inspector, the employer shall give to the inspector the name and address of the person from whom the article or substance was purchased or otherwise obtained.

11. —(1) It shall be the duty of any person who designs places of work to design them so that they are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health.

(2) It shall be the duty of any person who constructs places of work to construct them so that they are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health.

12. —(1) Every employer shall, as soon as may be, after the coming into operation of this section prepare or cause to be prepared, a statement in writing to be known and hereinafter referred to as a “safety statement”.

(2) The safety statement shall specify the manner in which the safety, health and welfare of persons employed by an employer shall be secured at work.

(3) The safety statement shall be based on an identification of the hazards and an assessment of the risks to safety and health at the place of work to which the safety statement relates.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the safety statement shall specify—

(a) the arrangements made and resources provided, for safeguarding the safety, health and welfare of persons employed at a place of work to which the safety statement relates;

(b) the co-operation required from employees as regards safety, health and welfare; and

(c) the names, including the names of authorised deputies and job titles where applicable, of the persons responsible for the performance of tasks assigned to them by the said statement.

(5) Where a safety statement is prepared or revised pursuant to this section and an inspector is satisfied that the statement is inadequate in a material respect he may direct that the statement be revised and the employer shall comply with the direction within thirty days of the direction being given by the inspector.

(6) The report of the directors of a company under section 158 of the Companies Act, 1963 , shall contain, in addition to the information specified in that section, an evaluation of the extent to which the policy set out in a safety statement was fulfilled during the period of time covered by the said report.

(7) It shall be the duty of a self-employed person to prepare a safety statement, in so far as is practicable in accordance with this section, so as to ensure his safety, health and welfare at work and that of other persons at the place of work.

(8) It shall be the duty of an employer or a self-employed person to bring the terms of a safety statement to the attention of persons employed by him and to other persons at the place of work who may be affected by the safety statement.

13. —(1) It shall be the duty of every employer—

(a) to consult his employees for the purpose of the making and maintenance of arrangements which will enable him and his employees to co-operate effectively in promoting and developing measures to ensure their safety, health and welfare at work and in ascertaining the effectiveness of such measures;

(b) as far as is reasonably practicable, to take account of any representations made by his employees.

(2) Employees shall have the right to make representations to and consult their employer on matters of safety, health and welfare in their place of work.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1) and (2), employees may, from time to time, select and appoint from amongst their number at their place of work a representative (in this Act referred to as “the safety representative”) to represent them in consultations pursuant to this section with their employer.

(4) A safety representative shall have the right to such information from his employer as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety and health of employees at the place of work.

(5) It shall be the duty of every employer to take such steps as are practicable to inform a safety representative when an inspector enters a place of work for the purpose of making a tour of inspection.

(6) A safety representative may—

(a) make representations to an employer on any aspects of safety, health and welfare at the place of work;

(b) investigate accidents and dangerous occurrences provided that he shall not interfere with or obstruct the performance of any statutory obligation required to be performed by any person under any of the relevant statutory provisions;

(c) make oral or written representations to inspectors on matters of safety, health and welfare at work;

(d) receive advice and information from inspectors on matters of safety, health and welfare at work;

(e) subject to prior notice to the employer and to agreement between the safety representative and the employer as to frequency, carry out inspections and in reaching such agreement, which shall not be unreasonably withheld by the employer, the parties shall consider the nature and extent of the hazards in the place of work in determining the frequency of inspections to be carried out by the safety representative at the place of work concerned;

(f) subject to prior notice to the employer, in circumstances in which it is reasonable to assume that risk of personal injury exists, to investigate potential hazards and complaints made by any employee whom he represents relating to that employee's safety, health and welfare at the place of work; and

(g) on a request being made in that behalf by him, accompany an inspector on any tour of inspection other than a tour of inspection made by the inspector for the purpose of investigating an accident.

(7) An employer shall consider and, if necessary, act upon any representations made to him by a safety representative on any matter affecting the safety, health and welfare at work of any employee whom he represents.

(8) (a) For the purpose of acquiring the knowledge necessary for the discharge of their functions under subsection (1) (a) of this section and to enable them to discharge those functions, an employer shall afford employees who may be involved in arrangements under subsection (1) (a) or under subsection (2) such time off from their duties as may be reasonable having regard to all the circumstances without loss of remuneration;

(b) an employer shall afford a safety representative such time off from his duties as may be reasonable having regard to all the circumstances without loss of remuneration, to enable him to—

(i) acquire the knowledge necessary to discharge his functions as a safety representative, and

(ii) discharge his functions as a safety representative.

(9) Arising from the discharge of his functions under this section, a safety representative shall not be placed at any disadvantage in relation to his employment.

(10) Notwithstanding the generality of subsections (1) to (9), the Minister may prescribe such further requirements, arrangements, modifications or exemptions as he considers necessary, from time to time, in relation to the operation of this section.