Department of Consumer and Employment Protection Resources Safety 1 Please read this before using presentation This presentation is based on content presented at the 2006 Mines Safety Roadshow held in October 2006 It is made available for non-commercial use (eg toolbox meetings) subject to the condition that the PowerPoint file is not altered without permission from Resources Safety Supporting resources, such as brochures and posters, are available from Resources Safety For resources, information or clarification, please contact: or visit

Toolbox presentation: Provision of PPE to labour hire workers October 2006

Department of Consumer and Employment Protection Resources Safety 3 What is labour hire? Labour hire organisation provides workers to another (client) company to carry out work for that employer Agreement for supply of workers Contract of employment exists between labour hire company and worker No contract of employment exists between client company and worker

Department of Consumer and Employment Protection Resources Safety 4 Duty of care — labour hire industry Duty to ensure labour hire workers: are not exposed to hazards receive adequate information, instruction and training are supervised are provided with necessary personal protective clothing and equipment at no cost to the worker

Department of Consumer and Employment Protection Resources Safety 5 Who is responsible for the safety and health of labour hire workers? Both labour hire company and host employer have same general duty of care over areas they exercise control Duties of host employer and labour hire company may overlap – this does not mean responsibility can be shifted from one party to the other If required, provision of PPE should be negotiated and agreed upon before the contract commences

Department of Consumer and Employment Protection Resources Safety 6 Exercise of control Although labour hire company does not have day-to-day control of work at mine site, it still has responsibilities and exercises control over certain matters Labour hire company sending worker to a workplace ought to be aware of: type of work expected to be undertaken basic PPE requirements (e.g. boots or safety glasses) Where task requires specific PPE of a technical nature (e.g. PPE for handling particular chemicals), these may be matters that are beyond company’s control

Department of Consumer and Employment Protection Resources Safety 7 Example — safety boots Risks of foot injuries are known Injuries can be severe Risk can be mitigated by wearing safety footwear Footwear is readily available and designed to be specifically suitable to address risk

Department of Consumer and Employment Protection Resources Safety 8 Provision of safety boots Where an employee is only required to do work that requires safety boots for a short period of time: risk of injury is the same employee cannot lawfully be exposed to hazard despite short- term nature of work Onus is on employer to provide the boots at no expense to employee: when an employee commences work if, in the period of the worker’s employment, boots need to be replaced to do the work