Occupational health and safety obligations

Health and safety at work are among the most important and developed aspects in the European Union’s employment and social affairs policy.

The ultimate aim of health and safety at work is to protect the life, integrity and health of workers against the risks of occupational accidents and illnesses that may occur at the workplace, and to create working conditions aimed to ensure their physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Workers’ obligations

All workers must perform their work in accordance with their qualifications and training and according to the instructions received from their employer, so as not to expose themselves, or others who are likely to be affected by their actions or omissions while at work, to the danger of occupational accidents or illness.

In particular, in order to achieve the abovementioned objectives, workers have the following obligations:

• to make correct use of machinery, equipment, tools, hazardous substances, transport equipment and other production facilities;
• to make correct use of the personal protective equipment provided and, after use, to return or put it in the dedicated place of storage;
• to refrain from decommissioning, modifying, changing or removing in an arbitrary manner their own safety devices, in particular those pertaining to machines, equipment, tools, technical installations and buildings, and to use such devices correctly;
• to report immediately to the employer and/or assigned workers any situation at work which they have good reason to consider a danger to workers’ health and safety, and any deficiency in the protection systems;
• to inform the head of the worksite and/or the employer of any accidents they have suffered;
• to cooperate with the employer and/or the assigned workers to the extent necessary to enable the implementation of any measures or requirements ordered by labour inspectors and health inspectors in order to protect workers’ health and safety.
• to cooperate with the employer and/or assigned workers to the extent necessary to enable the employer to make sure that the work environment and working conditions are safe and free of health and safety risks in the relevant field of activity;
• to acknowledge and comply with the provisions of occupational safety and health legislation and the related implementing measures;
• to engage with labour and health inspectors as required.