Large Penalties For Failure To Ensure A Customer’s Safety

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By Alan Knowsley, Saturday, 11 September, 2010, Employment, Health and Safety

A company was fined $60,000 and ordered to pay reparation of $80,000 after a customer died in the care of the company’s employees.

The company’s safety plan was found to not be up to industry standards and they did not have the necessary safety equipment.

The obligations to ensure the safety of staff, customers and visitors apply in all work places and not just those which appear to be dangerous. All employers and all staff must take all practicable steps to identify all hazards in the workplace. Once identified then the hazards should be eliminated if possible. If they cannot be eliminated then they need to be minimised or isolated.

Have a quick walk around your premises today and note all hazards that could result in injury. You may be surprised at the number of hazards there are in every work place, no matter how seemingly risk free, such as overloaded shelves or cleaning chemicals in the staff tea room. Each has the potential for harm and should be identified, eliminated, minimised or isolated.

Make sure you take the safety of customers, visitors and staff seriously and ensure your safety plan is current and up to standard. A failure to take the basic steps could end up costing someone either through an injury or by being very expensive if OSH get involved.

For an initial chat on whether your safety plans are sufficient give Alan Knowsley a call on 0800 733 424.

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