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The employer’s duties to the employee

An employer has both a common law and statutory duty to ensure the safety of their employees. The duty is to take reasonable care and this standard requires the employer to assess the potential risk of injury as against the harm the injury would cause the employee and the cost of putting safety precautions in place.

To satisfy the common law duty an employer must provide:

1. •

   safe premises and a safe place to work

2. •

   safe plant, materials and equipment

3. •

   a safe system of work and safe working practices

4. •

   competent staff as colleagues

The duties of an employer are not confined to this list and they may be extended to cover other matters which do not easily fit into one of the above categories.

The common law duty is a personal non-delegable duty and cannot be discharged by entrusting the safety of an employee to another employee or an independent contractor. For further guidance, see Practice Note: The employer’s duty of care.

The common law duty is supplemented by statutory protection in particular the Health and Safety at