HSE & Contractors


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Duties as Principal

Waihi Walkways has responsibilities when it engages contractors, and is acting as a principal.

A principal is a person who engages any person (other than an employee) to do any work for gain or reward.

Principals must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that no contractor or sub-contractor, and no employee of a contractor or subcontractor, is harmed while doing any work that you have engaged a contractor to do.

Principals should at least do the following when engaging a contractor to work for them.

	Engage competent and safe contractors;
	Provide contractors with any information that concerns their health and safety while working;
	Monitor contractors' performance in areas of health and safety while working;
	Co-ordinate the activities of contractors;
	Record and report accidents or incidences of serious harm.

Principals and contractors should share information relating to health and safety issues. Contractors should be made aware of any potential hazards involved in the work or in the place of work, as well as other health and safety management requirements. Contractors should in turn notify the principal of any significant hazard arising from their work.

The type of information to share may include:

	Procedures for reporting hazards that exist in the workplace, or that result from the work being done;
	Methods for reporting accidents and incidents;
	Responsibilities for notifying OSH of any serious harm;
	Information about the workplace or procedures, such as known hazards, emergency procedures, and where to find first aid facilities.

Duties as a contractor

These are the duties contractors have to Waihi Walkways.

A contractor must ensure their own safety, but the principal who engages them also has duties towards them. The contractor should discuss health and safety matters with the person who hires them and, in particular, they should jointly have a plan for the work. In particular, the contractor should ask if the principal is aware of any hazards involved in the work they will do or the place where they will be working.

Contractors should plan work activities and inform the person who hires them of:

	Any hazards that arise from the work they are doing;
	Safety procedures for other people who may be affected by that work, including the public;
	Safety equipment that may be necessary.

Contractors should also ensure they have received all relevant health and safety information from the person they are working for, such as:

	Hazards that exist in the place where they are working;
	Company rules about health and safety;
	Emergency procedures and first aid facilities;
	Procedures for reporting any new hazards that may be identified.

Contractors who work in a home have the same responsibilities under the Act as any other contractor. They must ensure that work practices are safe and do not harm any other person, such as the homeowner.

The homeowner, on the other hand, does not have any responsibilities to ensure the safety of contractors doing residential work on or in their home.

If the contractor has an accident and it harms them, or if their work injures any other person, they must keep a record of it. They will also need to quickly tell OSH about any serious harm that occurs.

Self Employed

A self-employed person has a duty under the Act to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that nothing they do while working harms them or any other person.

Waihi District Walkways Inc. PO Box 241 Waihi New Zealand

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