Plant - Employer's duty of care
Under Section 16 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 (OHS Act) the employer must take all reasonably practicable steps to protect the health and safety at work of the employer’s employees.
Employers also have a duty of care under section 17 of the OHS Act in relation to third parties, such as members of the general public, who are at or near a workplace under the employer’s control.
Under Part 1 of the OHS (Safety Standards) Regulations an employer must conduct a risk assessment and implement risk control measures for the matters covered in the regulations, for example Plant.
The Plant Safety series of factsheets provides further assistance for employers including:
- the responsibilities of employers regarding licensing, design registration or notification, use, disposal and other matters relating to plant
- the responsibilities of suppliers under the regulations
- a checklist to assist employers and others in the workplace to identify many of the hazards arising from plant and associated systems of work
- the responsibilities of employers hiring plant
- the safe use of lifts
