PERSONAL SAFETY

If staff work late or in isolated offices, the employer must make arrangements for their personal safety. This may mean making sure the building is secure and that they have easy access to a telephone.

If staff deal with members of the public who could potentially threaten or violently attack them, guidelines for their protection should be developed and staff instructed to follow them.

Employers are legally bound to ensure the health and safety at work of all employees.

This includes, in particular:

> Arrangements for ensuring safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances

> The provision of such information, instruction training and supervision as necessary to ensure the health and safety of employees at work

> That any place of work under the employer's control is maintained in a condition that is safe and without risks to health, and including access and egress

> The provision and maintenance of a working environment for employees that is safe, without risks to health, and adequate with regard to facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work

Judges have commented in various cases brought before them that it is the employer's duty to take reasonable care to see that their employees are not exposed to unnecessary risks, including the risk of injury from criminals.

USEFUL LINKS: