Do employers have responsibility to employees?
I have heard and read most times, if employers have responsibilities towards their employees. According to Health and environment law and regulations, an employer has various responsibilities towards their employees. An employer’s first duty is to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and other people who might be affected by their work activities. Employers must do whatever is reasonably practicable to achieve this.
This article will focus on the responsibilities of employers towards employees.
1.Risk Assessment.
One of the most important responsibilities of an employer under health and safety law is risk assessment. Before you can employ anyone, the need for their safety must be on standard. Employers have duties under health and safety law to assess risks in the workplace. This means identifying what work activities that could cause injury or illness and taking action to eliminate the hazard, or if this isn’t possible, control the risk.
2. Inform employees about known risk.
Employees have the risk to be informed about any known risk which comes to working with any working environment and this is the duty of the employer to inform the employees before they get into the job.Employers must give workers information about the risks in their workplace and how they are protected, also instruct and train them on how to deal with the risks.
3. Consult employees.
While it is important to employ various individuals to make the company more productive and more competitive. It is also very Important that employers consult their employees about their health status. Employers must consult employees on health and safety issues. Consultation must be either direct or through a safety representative that is either elected by the workforce or appointed by a trade union.
4. Provide health and safety information.
Employers have a legal duty under the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations (HSIER) to display the approved poster in a prominent position in each workplace or to provide each worker with a copy of the approved leaflet. Providing information about individual employee’s health makes it easy for other employees to treat such individuals with caution.
The most important part of health and safety occurs when employers of labour take responsibilities of their employees.
