Section 30: Employment of Safety and Health Officers

30. Employment of Safety and Health Officers (1) Every employer of 100 or more, but less than 500, employees at one or more places of work shall employ a Safety and Health Officer, whether on part-time or full-time employment for the purpose of assisting him and any employee, and of exercising general supervision regarding compliance with the provisions of this Act and generally to promote the safe conduct of work. (2) An employer having 500 or more, but not more than 2000, employees at one or more places of work shall employ at least one Safety and Health Officer on full-time employment to perform solely the duties of Safety and Health Officer. (3) An employer shall, for every additional 2000 employees or fraction thereof, employ one additional Safety and Health Officer on full-time or parttime employment as may be directed by the Permanent Secretary. O2 – 25 [Issue 3] Occupational Safety and Health Act (4) (a) No employer shall employ any of his full-time or part-time employee, other than a Safety and Health Officer, as Safety and Health Officer. (b) No employer shall employ a person as Safety and Health Officer unless that person has been registered to practise as Safety and Health Officer at the employer’s place of work. (5) The Permanent Secretary, after taking into account the nature of the process and risks present in places of work under control of an employer to whom subsections (2) and (3) apply, may exempt him in writing from compliance with the subsections. (6) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where the Permanent Secretary is of opinion that the safety, health or welfare of employees may be adversely affected by the nature of any work activity carried out, he may direct an employer having less than 100 employees to employ a Safety and Health Officer. (7) No Safety and Health Officer, employed solely on a part-time basis, shall be registered by the Permanent Secretary in respect of more than 4 employers of less than 500 employees each. (8) (a) Every Safety and Health Officer employed on a part-time basis shall work for each employer not less than 8 hours per week and submit to the Permanent Secretary a programme of work in respect of every place of work where he is engaged. (b) The attendance of every Safety and Health Officer shall be documented by him in the record of attendances kept by every employer he works for. [S. 30 amended by s. 4 of Act 8 of 2009 w.e.f. 15 July 2009.]