Employee safety - the importance of PPE

LG Leader September 2019

As with all employers, councils have a duty under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 to provide a safe working environment for their employees.  In complying with these obligations, it is important for Councils to undertake risk assessments of the types of duties being undertaken by their staff and ensure that they have the appropriate equipment to undertake these tasks safely.  But, what happens if despite having personal protective equipment (PPE) available, an employee fails to use the equipment?  In these circumstances it may not be enough to simply point to an outdated safety policy on the Council’s intranet.

In a 2003 case, a McDonald’s employee suffered serious burns whilst disposing of hot oil.  The supervisor was aware that the employee was not wearing the protective gloves and apron at the time of the task but failed to enforce this requirement.  As such, McDonald’s was found guilty and fined for breaching their health and safety duties. This position remains the same under our current legislation.

Councils, like all employers, have the ability to give their employees lawful and reasonable directions.  Therefore, if supervisors within a council are aware of employees undertaking duties without the necessary PPE then those employees should be explicitly told to utilise the protective equipment.  If, despite these explicit directions, an employee still fails to utilise the required PPE then appropriate disciplinary measures may be undertaken.  This ensures that the Council is taking the health and safety of its employees seriously and reduces the Council’s risk of liability should an unfortunate accident occur.