Duty of Care: What it is and the responsibilities of employers

There are several contexts in which the term “duty of care” may be used. For example, road users must exercise their duty of care to ensure that their actions don’t harm others. However, in this article, we’ll consider employers’ duty of care. What it means in practice depends on the nature of the work your business and its employees do, but no business is exempt from taking it into account. 

Duty of care definition in business settings

A simple duty of care definition is necessarily broad, but explains the principles employers must abide by. In short, it’s your duty to take care of the health, safety, and wellbeing of employees as well as members of the public who may be affected by your business’s activities. 

Examples of duty of care

For some businesses, the duty of care may be fairly easy to navigate, but it still requires thought. For others, it can be much more complex. 

For example, in construction, duty of care can present greater challenges than it does for an office-bound business. A busy construction site can pose multiple risks for employees and even passersby. Construction companies must consider a wide range of on-site activities, each with its attendant risks, and look for ways to mitigate them and keep people safe. 

Another example of a field in which the duty of care can become complex is healthcare. Employees are entitled to a safe workplace, and patients have the right to receive a reasonable standard of medical care. 

In security work, employees may face abuse or violence from members of the public while at the same time limiting their actions to comply with accepted procedures. As in healthcare, this requires a duty of care towards both employees and members of the public. 

However, even in straightforward, relatively predictable workplaces, duty of care remains a responsibility. For example, an office-based business must still consider risks like trips and falls, and mitigate health risks that come with the use of office equipment. 

Duty of care legislation in the UK

Duty of care is a common law principle used in UK tort law. If a person suffers damages because of the actions of another, courts must determine whether there was a duty of care to prevent that damage from occurring. 

If a court finds that it would be reasonable for a defendant to have taken steps to protect others from unreasonable harm, they would be legally liable for the harm that occurred. This could take the form of payment for damages and, in extreme cases, it may even lead to criminal prosecution. 

Duty of care and employers

Risk assessment

To fulfil their duty of care, employers must assess the risks their activities may imply. They must consider the risks employees face as well as the ways in which the public may be affected by their activities. 

Risk mitigation

Once risks have been identified, it will be the employers’ responsibility to implement safety measures. As a simple example, workers may be required to use PPE and follow specified procedures to minimise risk. 

Psychological hazards and hazards with external origins should also be addressed. For example, your employees should be protected from harassment or physical attacks –  and your planning should even address the correct response to risks like extreme weather or natural disasters.

Employee training

Once you’ve identified risks and the ways in which they can be mitigated, it will be important to train staff so that they know how to protect both themselves and others from harm. This may include training employees to follow specific procedures, or ensuring that they have the necessary skill and physical capacity to use equipment safely. 

Foster a safety-oriented culture

Your aim is to promote a workplace in which safety comes first. This requires employee participation, effective communication, and timely action to address any risks that may have been overlooked or insufficiently addressed during your risk assessment. 

Compliance with health and safety regulations

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 is the primary piece of legislation related to workplace duty of care. It includes regulations and guidance governing workplace activities, for example, guidance on implementing health and safety regulations on construction sites.  

Emergency preparedness

Despite your best efforts, accidents can still happen and emergencies can arise. It’s part of your duty of care to ensure that procedures for dealing with emergencies are in place and that your employees know how to follow them. For example, they should know what to do if there is a medical emergency or in the event of a fire. 

Reviews and updates

Your duty of care is incomplete if your workplace health and safety policies aren’t regularly reviewed. As a minimum, this should occur once a year. However, if new information comes to light or there are substantial changes in the workplace, your health and safety policies must be reviewed and updated immediately. 

Record keeping

Be sure to record evidence that you are complying with your duty of care. Keep records of risk assessments and how risks are to be addressed, record safety inspections, training interventions, workplace incidents (including near-misses), and any actions that flowed from them. These records will help you to review and continuously improve your approach to safety and may even serve as evidence in your defence if complaints are laid against your business. 

Duty of care examples

In practice, duty of care is demonstrated in different ways depending on the workplace and the nature of the work being done. Training employees and ensuring access to adequate facilities forms part of the duty of care. And, from PPE to ergonomics and beyond, providing the right equipment can be a key consideration too.

For example, in workplaces where safety requires good coordination between teams located in different areas of a site, reliable two way radios will be a requirement. They will also contribute to activating a timely response in the event of an emergency. 

There may be times when workers have to perform a task on their own without colleagues to support them. This implies elevated risk. For example, a worker may have to enter a confined space alone, or they may be working alone at a remote location. Depending on the risks they might face, man down alerts and broadband push to talk devices can help to safeguard them. 

Healthcare and security work pose unique risks. Workers may face danger, or a member of the public may accuse workers of misconduct. Body worn cameras can help to monitor at-risk workers, gather vital evidence, and be used to identify a need for emergency support or further training.  

Duty of care: a summary

As an employer, your duty of care towards your employees and the public begins with risk assessment and the formulation of risk mitigation strategies. This is followed by employee training, implementation and ongoing review. At all times, your aim is to keep people safe from harm, demonstrating consideration for the safety of your employees and the public. 

At Radiocoms, we can help you in exercising your duty of care responsibility by providing communications equipment that may have a vital role to play in safeguarding your employees’ health, safety, and wellbeing. From airports and airlines to construction sites, healthcare workers, emergency services, recreational facilities, and factories, our technologies help our clients to realise efficiencies, stay connected, and keep their employees safe at work. Contact us today to find out how we can help you.

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