Occupational Health in Kenya.

  

Date Posted: 7/9/2012 5:34:03 AM

Posted By: macawear88  Membership Level: Silver  Total Points: 163

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In Kenya the legislation governing occupational health and safety is the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 2007 which repealed the Factories Act, cap 254 of the laws of Kenya. The Acts main purpose is 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 .

Summarily the Act’s purposes and goals can be said to be among the following:
- Securing a safe and health working environment
- Prevention of child labour especially where the child’s health is exposed to risk
- Standards in regard to safety and health at the working environment
- Develop a safety and health conscious culture in the work place
- Encourage reporting of injuries and accidents at the work place.

The act seeks to achieve its purpose through three main ways. These are:
• Through creation of preventive measures
• Through institutional frameworks that shall enforcement its objectives
• Through punitive measures
The duty of the employer according to the act is also stemmed upon the common law principle of duty of care. However under the Act, the duty of care is not only placed on employers but also extended to occupier, the employees, designers, manufacturers, importers. Thus the act catches a broader perception of the duty of care. The Act clearly defines an occupier and state his duties.

Who is an occupier?

According to section 2 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act an “occupier” means the person or persons in actual occupation of a workplace, whether as the owner or not and includes an employer. The test for occupier under common law may be derived from Street on Torts at page 195;

“...The test of occupation, then, is whether a person has some degree of control associated with, and arising from,

his presence in and use of, or his activity in, the premises...”

Occupiers too have a duty of care towards employees. This can be implied through the duties provided under section 6 of the Occupational Safety & Health Act. These duties are:
(1) Every occupier shall ensure the safety, health and welfare at work of all persons working in his workplace.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of an occupier''s duty under subsection (1), the duty of the occupier includes—
(a) the provision and maintenance of plant and systems and procedures of work that are safe and without risks to health;
(b) arrangements for ensuring safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;
(c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure the safety and health at work of every person employed
(d) the maintenance of any workplace under the occupier''s control, in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks to health;
(e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for every person employed that is, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for the employees welfare at work;
(f) informing all persons employed of
i. any risks from new technologies; and
ii. imminent danger; and
(g) ensuring that every person employed participates in the application and review of safety and health measures.

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