Workplace injuries are often difficult to avoid or prevent. The nature and extent of workplace injuries will vary depending on the industry, work environment, company size, and the company culture around safety. Nevertheless, you, as an employer, need to be aware of your obligations if an employee injures themselves in the workplace. This article will address your duties as an employer when an employee is injured at work.
General Duty to Protect Health and Safety at Work
Employers have a general duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (the Act) to protect the health and safety of employees at work as far as "reasonably practicable".
What is "reasonably practicable" means the employer must do everything they can in the given situation. This will depend on various factors, including:
- how common the risk occurs or the likelihood of the risk occurring;
- the harms associated with the risk occurring are;
- the knowledge the employer has of the risk; and
- what are the available methods of reducing or eliminating the risk of injury.
As such, employers have a duty to:
- provide and maintain a risk-free work environment;
- ensure work equipment is safe to use;
- ensure work systems are safe;
- ensure facilities and processes for using, handling and storing equipment and substances are safe;
- provide all the necessary information, training, instructions and supervision so that employees can perform their relevant roles; and
- monitor the workplace to prevent injuries and illness.
Do Employees Have Health and Safety Duties?
Employees are also responsible under the Act to ensure their own health and safety and ensure their actions do not cause harm to others. This means they should follow any policies, procedures and reasonable instructions that management or their supervisors give.
If a worker fails to comply with the health and safety rules of the workplace, you may choose to:
- take disciplinary action;
- suspend their employment; or
- in serious circumstances, terminate their employment.
Do Employers Owe Health and Safety Obligations to Independent Contractors?
If your workers are independent contractors, you (as the principal) still have the same health and safety obligations that you owe your employees. After all, employers, principals and volunteer organisations fall under the category of a "person carrying on a business or undertaking".
What Happens When a Worker Suffers an Injury at Work?
Workers can claim compensation under the Accident Compensation Corporation Scheme (ACC), where they receive 80% of their wages, called "earnings-related compensation". The employer pays the first week of ACC compensation, and ACC makes any subsequent payments.
If there has been a notifiable and serious event, you must also report the injury to WorkSafe New Zealand. This may include:
- death; or
- serious illnesses and injuries.
These notifiable events must be related to the work site and not just occur when a worker is on-site. In addition, these usually must be serious work-related illnesses which require or would usually require immediate hospital admission.
If the injury or illness is not as serious, you must nevertheless record the injury within the business on an Incident and Injury Register. Failure to identify risks and reduce hazards in the workplace may also result in disciplinary action. To avoid this, you must ensure that you provide staff with:
- adequate resources to follow the necessary protocols; and
- adequate training, especially when there are dangerous activities and equipment involved.
Key Takeaways
Employers must ensure a safe work environment for their employees. This means you should ensure that you identify, eliminate and minimise all the potential hazards to reduce the risk of injuries. You should also ensure that your employees are aware of the potential hazards and adequately trained to keep the work environment harm-free. If any accidents occur at work, ensure that they are recorded appropriately with the Incident and Injury Register or through WorkSafe New Zealand.
