2. Contents
1. Employees’(Including Apprentices) Health & Safety Responsibilities..........1
2. Your Rights............................. .............................................................................1
3. Your Responsibilities ............................. ............................................................1
4. Personal Protective Equipment ........................................................................2
5. Have concerns about Health & Safety at work? - What to do..........................2
3. 1. Employees’(Including Apprentices) Health & Safety
Responsibilities
As an employee, you have rights, and you have responsibilities for your own
wellbeing and that of your colleagues.
2. Your Rights
Your rights as an employee to work in a safe and healthy environment are given to
you by law, and generally can’t be changed or removed by your employer.
The most important rights are:
• As far as possible, to have any risks to your health and safety properly controlled.
• To be provided, free of charge, with any personal protective and/or safety
equipment for an area that you work in.
• To tell your employer about any Health & Safety concerns you have.
• To get in touch with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) or your local authority if
your employer won’t listen to your concerns, without fear of being disciplined.
• To have rest breaks during the working day, to have time off from work during
the working week, and to have annual paid holiday
3. Your Responsibilities
Your most important responsibilities as an employee are:
• To take reasonable care of your own Health & Safety.
• If possible avoid wearing jewellery or loose clothing if operating machinery.
• If you have long hair or wear a headscarf, make sure it’s tucked out of the way. (It
could get caught in machinery.)
• To take reasonably care not to put other people - fellow employees and members
of the public at risk by what you do or don’t do in the course of your work.
• To co-operate with your employer, making sure you get proper training and
making sure that you understand and follow the company’s Health & Safety
Policies.
• Not to interfere with or misuse anything that’s been provided for your health,
safety or welfare
• To report any injuries, strains or illnesses you suffer as a result of doing your job.
(Your employer may need to change the way that you work.)
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4. • To tell your employer if something happens that might affect your ability to
work (e.g. becoming pregnant or suffering an injury). Your Employer has a legal
responsibility for your Health & Safety. In the worst case they may need to
suspend you while they find a solution however you will normally be paid if this
happens so there is no need to worry!
• If you drive or operate machinery you have a responsibility to tell your employer
if you take medication that makes you drowsy. They should temporarily move
you to another job if possible until you are off the medication.
4. Personal Protective Equipment
Your employer must provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to you free of
charge.
• You must use this correctly, and follow the training and instruction you have
been given.
• In some jobs, failure to use PPE properly can be grounds for disciplinary action or
even dismissal.
• However, you can refuse to wear PPE if it puts your safety at risk (e.g. PPE of the
wrong size could put you at risk because of its poor fit).
• Ask your employer or the firm’s safety representative for the right size (which
must be provided free of charge).
• If you are a Sikh who works on construction sites and wear a turban you can
legally refuse to wear head protection on religious grounds. This does not apply
if you work at sites other than construction sites where, for example the use of
safety helmets would still be required.
• If you are a Sikh who does not wear a turban you must wear the appropriate
head protection.
5. Have concerns about Health & Safety at work? - What to do
• You should first of all discuss your concerns with your employer or immediate
boss.
• Your company may have a safety representative, who might be your first point of
contact.
• If you have an employee representative, such as a trade union official, they may
be able to help you.
• Your employer must not expose you to avoidable risks at work, and if you
have pointed out risks without getting an answer, you can get confidential
information from the HSE’s Information Line.
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5. • As a last resort, you can get in touch with the authority responsible for enforcing
Health & Safety in your workplace (either the HSE or your local authority).
• Health & Safety Inspectors have powers to enforce the law.
• If you take this course of action, your employer must not discipline you or put
you at a disadvantage in your job (e.g. by not paying you for the time you refused
to work because of unsafe conditions, passing you over for promotion, etc).
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