All employers have a legal responsibility to protect their employees, contractors and visitors from accidents and injuries. This obligation is expressed in Section 12 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, so that confusion as to who is / is not an employee need not deprive an injured person from getting proper compensation when injured in a workplace.

The employer’s duty includes ensuring the following:

• that employees are provided with the necessary machinery and tools to complete the job, and that those tools and machines are to be maintained in a safe condition.
• that the workplace must be kept in a safe, tidy condition with floors, doors and gates clean and clear and free from hazards.
• that the employer is vicariously responsible for the negligence of his/her employees, meaning that a worker injured by the negligence of a fellow worker is entitled to compensation from the employer.