What is a Worker under the new Health and Safety reforms?
What is a Worker under the new Health and Safety reforms? The new legislation is bundling contractors and employees into the same barrel. Whatever you do for an employee, there’s an expectation that you’ll do the same with a contractor.
Video excerpt from the June 2015 Health & Safety Seminar presented by Andrew Swensen with support from CrestClean.
What is a Worker under the new Health and Safety reforms?
What is a Worker under the new Health and Safety reforms? The new legislation is bundling contractors and employees into the same barrel. Whatever you do for an employee, there’s an expectation that you’ll do the same with a contractor. – Video excerpt from the June 2015 Health & Safety Seminar presented by Andrew Swensen with support from CrestClean.
What is a Worker under the new Health and Safety reforms?
The new legislation is bundling contractors and employees into the same barrel. Whatever you do for an employee, there’s an expectation that you’ll do the same with a contractor.
The new term is ‘Worker’. Anybody who works for or on behalf of your organisation. So if you engage another party to do something for you, they become one of your workers, especially if they’re coming into a workplace that you control.
Existing legislation says that an employee must take reasonable care of themselves, and make sure that nothing they do or don’t do will hurt anybody else. That’s still the same. The new legislation will bring two additional duties to a worker.
They must comply so much as reasonably practicable or reasonably able with any reasonable instructions given to them by the organization, to allow the organization to comply with the law.
If the boss says we need to wear pink beanies to work, so that he’s in compliance with the law, then I have to wear the pink beanie, I can’t opt-out, or I can be prosecuted as an individual for not wearing my pink beanie, because the boss is doing it to comply with the law. Because it’s reasonable.
Secondly, you must cooperate with any reasonable policy or procedure that the organisation brings out in relations to Health and Safety in the workplace; that has been notified to workers. If a worker has been informed of a process, policy, procedure, and the worker doesn’t do it, he as an individual can be prosecuted and fined.
So, if you’re told “you will not walk through an area without your safety helmet on” and you continue to do it; “We’ve told you, you’re inducted, we’ve had a meeting and discussed it there and we’ve got a signature to say you’ve attended. Guess what mate, if Worksafe turn up, you’re copping the fine, not us. If you’re injured, you will be fined and you’ll be doubly penalised. Not only will you be injured, you’ll be prosecuted. That’s the way it’s headed.
View all Health and Safety Videos
CrestClean understands our Health and Safety obligations.
We have developed SafeClean, which is a full Health and Safety and Environmental Management System that enables us to work safely, protecting our personnel, our customers and the public.
Read more about our Health and Safety commitment
Introducing Andrew Swensen from Swensen & Associates Ltd
Andrew Swensen – Health and Safety Consultant
Swensen & Associates Ltd was established in January 2013, by Andrew Swensen, after it was identified that small to medium sized businesses lacked readily available access to professional advice and support in regards to Safety, Environmental and Quality Management Systems.
The breadth of industry and workplace experience available within Swensen & Associates Ltd allows them to provide a tailored solution that is cost effective and efficient.
Andrew Swensen holds a Diploma of Health and Safety Management from NZ Institute of Management, in addition to other qualifications and competencies. Andrew has extensive contract consulting, leadership and executive management experience across many industries and business services.
Major Projects and Contract Involvement extend to New Zealand Post, Siemens, Chorus, Auckland Transport and many others.
