Safety Matters - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

Duties and Responsibilities
What is the Employer required to do?
It is the employer who has the most direct influence over workplace health,
safety and welfare. For this reason, they are legally responsible for providing
a safe and healthy workplace.
To do this, the employer is required to:
• Make sure the workplace is safe. Whatever work is carried on in the
workplace, all hazards must be identified and risks identified, assessed and
controlled
• Provide information, training and supervision to support safe work
practices
• Consult workers in monitoring and maintaining a healthy and safe work
environment
• Keep records and information on the health and safety of employees
• Provide adequate facilities for the health, safety and welfare of workers
• Monitor conditions in the workplace and the health of employees.
Duties of employers
Every employer must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health,
safety and welfare at work of all employees. This requires:
• A safe place of work with a means of safe access and exit
• Maintenance of safe plant and equipment
• Safe systems of work
• Safe use of substances
• Hazard identification, risk assessment and control
• That the employer’s activities do not endanger persons not directly
employed
These general duties are further detailed to require:
• A safe working environment and adequate facilities and arrangements for
employees’ welfare
• Safe methods for handling storage, use and transport of articles and
substances
Safety Matters A Guide for Workplace OHS Representatives
SECTION ONE
BACK TO CONTENTS
RAIL
TRAM AND BUS
9
Workplace Health and Safety
U N
I O N