Duty of Care

Employers have a duty of care to provide a safe place of work. A duty of care is a principal of tort law but there are also leglislative responsibilities for the employer.

The responsibilities and duties of the employer is a legal necessity under the Safety, Health, and Welfare at Work Act, 2005. Some of the general responsibilities employers have in the workplace are listed below;

• Employers must arrange and manage work activities to avoid foreseeable accidents. This is an active and not passive duty.
• Employers have general duties in ensuring the safety and health at the workplace of staff.
• Company plants and machinery must be designed and maintained to avoid risks of injury. In many circumstances machinery wears out and is not maintained which leads to problems.
• Provide protective gear and equipment to employees.
• Provide training, instructions, information and supervision of manual handling procedures.
• Employers should prevent any work activities that endangers employees.

Yes, according to the Organization of Working Time Act of 1997, employers must provide time for employees to have breaks for resting at work. This is even more important to implement in physically demanding jobs. Work rest periods must be provided such as;

• Workers are entitled to an everyday break duration of 11 hours within 24 hours of working days.
• Rest intervals while working should be 15 minutes to 30 minutes after working for 4 hours and 6 hours, respectively, to ensure employees have a break.
• Employees are entitled 24 hours of rest within seven days of working days.

According to the Safety, Health, and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 employees also have duties while at work such as;

• Employees should ensure they are not under the influence of any drug or alcohol.
• Employees should take reasonable care to look after their own safety.
• Not partake in dangerous activities that endanger oneself or others.
• Attend training seasons and partake in an employer assessment regarding safety measures.

At the workplace, the employer must identify workplace hazards that could can cause an injury. Employers are duty bound to have a Risk Assessment conducted which identifies workplace risks and then an employer must take the steps to implement any improvement considered necessary. It is the implementation of appropriate measures where many employers fall short on in these matters.

Manual handling injury claims* must be initiated within two years of the date of the accident. A claim must be registered one day less the 2 year time limit.

In the case of industrial diseases like mesothelioma, the time limit due to the nature of illness is different and the clock begins from the date of the diagnosis.

Please be advised that the above-mentioned material is intended as an overview and as a broad out-line of the topic discussed.

It should not be considered as complete and comprehensive legal advice, nor act as an appropriate substitute.

Due care has been taken in the publication of this article and we do not accept legal liability as a result of reliance on any material covered in the above article.

Personal Injuries * In contentious business, a Solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.