Under health and safety law employers have a legal responsibility to ensure that the employees and working environment is safe and all health and safety risks are properly controlled.
Employee rights
By law, employees have the right to work in a safe and healthy environment. These health and safety rights cannot be altered or removed by the employer. Employees also have the right to:
- Work in areas where all risks to health and safety are properly controlled
- Stop work and leave if there is a risk of danger
- Advise employers about any health and safety concerns
- Receive instruction on matters related to health and safety at work
- Contact the HSE or a local authority if there are health and safety concerns
- Have time off work for training if they’re a safety representative
- Allowed a break of at least 20 minutes if 6 hours or more have been worked straight and continue to take breaks across the working day
- Take annual leave
- To have suitable toilets, washing facilities and drinking water
- Have access to adequate first-aid facilities
Employee responsibilities
Employees are required to take care of these health and safety rights of anyone at work who may be affected by their actions. In addition to this, employees must also:
- Co-operate with others on health and safety, especially with the employer and ensure that the company’s health and safety policies are understood and followed
- Not interfere with or misuse anything that has been provided for health, safety or welfare
- Follow the training received when using work items
- Report any injuries, accidents, incidents or illnesses that occur as a result of doing a job. Notifying the employer about this can change the way that the job is done in the future
- Notify the employer about anything that has affected the employees’ ability to work. For example, suffering from an injury or becoming pregnant. As employers have a legal responsibility for the health and safety of their workforce, they may need to provide a temporary solution so that the employee does not get harmed through the work activity
