Duties of Occupier of Premises

Duties of Occupier of Premises
Occupier of premises means a person who has any degree of control over the premises where a workplace is located. If an employee's workplace is located on premises that are not under the control of his employer, occupier of the premises has the duties to ensure that the premises, the means of access to and egress from the premises and any plant or substances kept at the premises are, so far as reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health.

For example, the consignment counters selling proprietary products in an emporium, where the sales persons are not employees of the emporium, the persons' safety and health at work shall be the responsibility of their employer while operator of the emporium shall have the duties of occupier of the premises. The operator shall have the duties to make overall arrangements for safety and health at the premises like fire prevention, means of escape, ventilation, first aid, sanitary facilities etc.

Duties of Employees

An employee must so far as reasonably practicable, take care for the safety and health of himself and of other persons who are at the workplace. He must also co-operate with his employer or other person so far as may be necessary to enable safety and health requirements are complied with.

"Reasonably Practicable"

"So far as reasonably practicable" must assess, on the one hand, the risks of a particular work activity or environment and on the other hand, the physical difficulties, time, expenses and even "trouble" which would be involved in taking steps to avoid the risks.

Improvement Notice and Suspension Notice

The Commissioner for Labour may serve on employer or occupier
1. Improvement Notice requiring the rectification of contravention against safety legislation within specified period ; and
2. Suspension Notice requiring suspension of an activity or use of premises or of any plant or substance where there is imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Employer or occupier served with a Suspension Notice has the right of applying to the Commissioner for a review He may also appeal to the Administrative Appeals Board if he is affected by the decision of the Commissioner. However, during the review or appeal, the Suspension Notice remains in force.