The Department of Labour has produced a new guide to assist principals of contracts to meet their obligations under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (the Act). A principal to a contract is a company or person that has contracted services out to a contractor.

The Department produced this guide because business practices have changed and increasingly large amounts of work is being contracted out.

Under Section 18 of the Act principals to contracts have a duty to take all practicable steps to make sure that the contractors they engage are not harmed while doing the work that they have been contracted to do. This responsibility extends to the employees of a contractor as well as the contractor’s subcontractors. In recent years up to a third of prosecutions have been taken against principals under Section 18 of the Act.

The new guidance sets out a broad process for building health and safety into contract management, which can then be adapted to specific contractual situations or industries. Because it has a very broad application, it is principles-based and not industry-specific – although there are six brief case studies from a range of industries.

Katy Sanson

Department of Labour

Please see the attachment for further information.