Legal Requirements on OSH in Kenya

Winston G.O. AudiOccupational Safety and Health

Practitioner

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Legal provisions outlined in:

! Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007! Subsidiary legislations (rules)! Also entrenched in Section 42. of the Constitution of

Kenya which states: Every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment, which

! includes the right—! (a) to have the environment protected for the benefit

of present and! future generations through legislative and other

measures,

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Introduction ! Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007 is

enforced by the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services.

! DOSHS is one of the departments under the Ministry of Labour. Other departments include Labour Department, Employment Department, Micro and Small Enterprises Development, Human Resource, Directorate of Industrial Training Productivity Center of Kenya, among others.

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Directorate of Occupational Safety & Health Services

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Session Objectives

1. Understanding law as an important tool in OSH management. 2.. Introduction to OSHA 2007 and subsidiary legislations

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Parts of the Act! The Act is divided into 14 Sections:-

! A few sections will be discussed

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Definition of the Act

! AN ACT of Parliament to provide for the safety, health and welfare of workers and all persons lawfully present at workplaces, to provide for the establishment of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health and for connected purposes

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PART I: PRELIMINARY

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Application of Act.! This Act shall apply to all workplaces

where any person is at work, whether temporarily or permanently.

! The purpose of this Act is to ! secure the safety, health and welfare of

persons at work; and! protect persons other than persons at

work against risks to safety and health arising out of, or in connection with, the activities of persons at work.

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PART II: GENERAL DUTIES

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Duties of occupiers.! Ensuring the safety, health and welfare at work

of all persons working in his workplace.

! Providing and maintaining plant and systems and procedures of work that are safe and without risks to health;

! Ensuring safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;

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Duties of occupiers.! Providing information, instruction, training

and supervision as is necessary to ensure the safety and health at work of every person employed

! Provides and maintains means of entry and exit from workplace that are safe and without risk to health.

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! Provide facilities and arrangements for the employees welfare at work that are safe, without risk to health and adequate

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! Carrying out appropriate risk assessments in relation to the safety and health of persons employed and, on the basis of these results, adopting preventive and protective measures

! Sending a copy of the risk assessment report to the area occupational safety and health officer

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! Stopping any dangerous operation or activity when there is imminent and serious danger to safety and health and evacuating all exposed persons

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! Registering his workplace

! Penalty! Failure to comply with the above written

duties is an offence and shall attract a fine not exceeding Kshs 500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both if convicted

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Other duties of occupiers.! Preparing a health and safety policy

! Should not dismiss an employee or discriminate against him or her for such reasons as when the employee;

! makes a complaint about a matter which the employee considers is not safe or is a risk to his health;

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! is a member of a safety and health committee; or

! exercises any of his functions as a member of the safety and health committee

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Other duties of occupiers.! Preparing a health and safety policy

! Should not dismiss an employee or discriminate against him or her for such reasons as when the employee;

! makes a complaint about a matter which the employee considers is not safe or is a risk to his health;

! is a member of a safety and health committee; or ! exercises any of his functions as a member of the

safety and health committee

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Duties of occupiers.

! Establish a safety and health committee at the workplace if:->there are twenty or more persons employed at

the workplace; or>the Director directs the establishment of such a

committee at any other workplace. ! Not to charge employees for providing

them with personal protective equipment

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Specific duties the occupier owe a contractor

! Section 17. (1) Every occupier shall conduct his undertaking in such a manner as to ensure, that a person who is not his employee who may be affected thereby is not exposed to risks to safety or health.

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! Section 17. (3) It shall be the duty of every employer and every self employed person to give relevant safety and health information to every person, not being his employee who may be affected by the manner in which the employer or the self employed person conducts his undertaking, on such aspects of the way he conducts his business as may affect safety or health.

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Training! Section 99. (4) Every occupier shall ensure that

an employee from other undertakings or establishments including contractors engaged in work at the occupier’s workplace receive appropriate instructions regarding safety and health risks including emergency procedures at the workplace during their activities at the workplace and action to be taken in case of an emergency.

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Duties of employee. ! Every employee shall, while at the workplace:-

! ensure his own safety and health and that of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at the workplace;

! at all times wear or use any protective equipment or clothing provided by the employer

! comply with the safety and health procedures,

requirements and instructions given by a person having authority over him for his own or any other person’s safety;

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Duties of employee! report to the supervisor, any situation which

he has reason to believe would present a hazard and which he cannot correct;

! report to his supervisor any accident or injury that arises in the course of or in connection with his work

! Co-operate with employer to enable any duty or requirement imposed on his employer by or under any other relevant statutory provision, be performed or complied with.

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Penalty! Failure to comply with the above written

duties is an offence and shall attract a fine not exceeding Kshs 50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both if convicted

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Duty to report any dangerous situation.

! Every employee shall report to the immediate supervisor any situation which he/she has reasonable grounds to believe presents an imminent or serious danger to the safety or health of that employee or of other employee in the same premises

! The occupier shall not require the employee to return to a work place where there is continuing imminent or serious danger to safety or health until remedial measures have been taken

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Immunity of employee

! An employee who has left a work place, which the employee has reasonable justification to believe presents imminent and serious danger to life and health shall not be dismissed, discriminated against or disadvantaged for such action by the employer.

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Duty not to interfere with or misuse things provided

! A person who willfully interferes with or misuses any means, appliance, convenience or other thing provided or done in the interests of safety, health and welfare in pursuance of this Act commits an offence

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Prohibition against creation of hazards.

! No person shall engage in any improper activity or behavior at the workplace, which might create or constitute a hazard to that person or any other person.

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Collaborators

! Interviewed and appointed by the Director, Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services

! Authorized plant examiners: inspection of lifting appliances, and pressurized vessels.

! Designated Health Practitioners: Examination of workers engaged in certain professions

! Safety and health advisers: Carry out OSH audits! Fire safety auditors: Carry out fire audits

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Subsidiary Legislations

! These are Rules made under the parent Act. They tend to beef up or strengthen certain sections of the Act which have been otherwise mentioned but not given sufficient details.

! All subsidiary legislations made under the previous Acts (Factories Act and Factories and Other Places of Work Act ) will be deemed to have been made under the OSHA, 2007

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! OSH trainers: Training OSH committees, fire fighters and first aiders

! Air quality monitors! Approved laboratories: Hazardous substances,

biological specimen

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These Subsidiary legislations include

! The Factories (Wood working machinery) rules,1959

! The Factories (Docks) rules, 1962

! The Factories (Cellulose solution) rules,1964

! The Factories (first-aid) rules,1977

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! The Factories (Protection of eyes) rules,1978

! The Factories (Electric power (Special)) rules, 1979

! The Factories (Building operations & works of engineering construction ) rules,1984

! The Factories & other places of work (Safety & Health Committee) rules, 2004

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! The Factories & other places of work (Noise prevention & control) rules,2005

! The Factories & other places of work (Medical examination) rules,2005

! The Factories & other places of work (Fire risk reduction) rules, 2007

! The Factories & other places of work (hazardous substances) rules, 2007

! The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH Fund) Rules, 2007

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