The employer shall ensure the health and safety of his employees in all aspects related to work.
Within the scope of his responsibilities, the employer shall take the necessary measures for the protection of the health and safety of the employees, including the activities of prevention of occupational risks, information and training as well as setting up organization and providing the required resources.
Considering the nature of a company’s activities, employers will assess the risks to the health and safety of workers, including the choice of work equipment, chemical substances or preparations and the layout of the workplace.
The employer must put the required measures in place to ensure first aid, fire-fighting and evacuation of employees.
The employer sets up relations with external services, particularly in the area of first aid, emergency medical assistance, rescue and fire-fighting.
In order to control the risks at work, people must be trained, there must be a sufficient number of them and they must have the right equipment, taking into account the size and/or the specific risks of the company.
Does an employer have to provide information to employees about health and safety at work?
The employer must take appropriate measures to ensure that employees and their representatives are provided with all necessary information concerning health and safety risks.
This obligation on the part of the employer also exists with regard to keeping subcontractors informed.
Designated workers and health and safety representatives must have access to all information concerning:
health and safety risk assessments;
lists of accidents at work entailing incapacity of an employee for over 3 days;
reports relating to how industrial accidents occurred.
Does an employer have to consult with employees on occupational health and safety issues?
Employers shall consult employees and their representatives and allow their participation in all matters relating to health and safety at work. Health and safety representatives shall participate or be consulted in advance by employers on any action that may have a substantial effect on safety and health.
Employees and their representatives have the right to address concerns to the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines if they consider that the measures taken and the means used by the employer are not sufficient to guarantee the Health and Safety of workers at work.
Particular case of serious danger: The employer must give instructions to each worker about how to can cease his activity and go to a safe place when a serious and immediate danger threatens him. Any worker who finds himself in this situation and who moves away from his workstation cannot suffer any harm.
Does an employer have to carry out a risk assessment in his company?
Employers must:
have an assessment of the risks to Health and Safety at work on hand;
determine what protective measures should be taken and any necessary protective equipment to be used.
Each employer, in cooperation with the occupational physician, makes an inventory of at-risk jobs and jobs involving special risks or significant physical or mental strain in his company and updates it at least every three years. The inventory and updates shall be submitted to the chief medical officer of the occupational health division of the health directorate, who shall draw up a list of hazardous jobs for each employer. In the absence of communication by the employer, the aforementioned chief medical officer shall draw up this list automatically, after having obtained the opinion of the Labour Inspectorate and the Mines Inspectorate.
It is the responsibility of each employee to care their own health and safety and that of others affected by their acts or omissions at work to the best of their ability, in accordance with the training and instructions received from their employer.
Employees must:
use machines, appliances, tools, dangerous substances, transport equipment and other resources properly;
use the personal protective equipment provided correctly and, after use, stow it in its proper place;
keep the safety devices specific to all machines and installations in place and use them correctly;
immediately report any work situation presenting a serious and immediate danger to Health and Safety to the employer and/or designated employees and to the Health and Safety representatives, as well as any defect in the protective systems.
The legislation provides for criminal penalties for breaches of the provisions relating to workers’ obligations.
Health and safety representative
Who is the health and safety representative?
The health and safety representative, appointed by the staff delegation either from among its own members or from among other workers in the establishment, deals with all aspects of health and safety in the workplace. To this end, this person has the right to request of the employer to take appropriate measures to mitigate any risk to workers and to eliminate sources of danger.
Does this person have the obligation to make reports?
The health and safety representative shall record the results of his findings, countersigned by the head of department, in a special register which shall be kept at the office of the establishment, where the members of the delegation, as well as the inspection and monitoring staff of the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines, may inspect them.
In urgent cases, where the findings require the immediate intervention of the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines, the representative has the right to apply directly to this administration, if he informs the head of the undertaking or his representative at the same time.
Each week, the health and safety representative, accompanied by the head of the establishment or his representative, may carry out a tour of inspection at the establishment’s headquarters and at any construction sites or other temporary workplaces of the establishment.
However, in the case of building sites or other temporary workplaces in establishments with no more than 150 employees, the inspection tour may only take place with the prior agreement of the head of the establishment or his representative.
In the administrative services, the number of inspection rounds may not exceed two per year.
The head of the division which is subject to the inspection tour and the head of the maintenance department shall attend the inspection tour referred to in the preceding paragraphs.
The inspection and control staff of the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines shall have the right to be accompanied, during their tours of duty, by the Health and Safety Officer; they may also be assisted in accident investigations.
Is the employer required to consult the Health and Safety representative?
The company director is required to consult with the health and safety representative with regard to:
the assessment of risks to health and safety at work, including those relating to groups of workers at particular risk;
the protective measures to be taken and, if necessary, the protective equipment to be used;
declarations to be submitted to the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines in accordance with the Labour Code;
any action that may have a substantial effect on health and safety;
the appointment of the workers designated to carry out the protection and occupational risk prevention activities of the undertaking and/or establishment;
the measures taken with regard to first aid, fire-fighting and evacuation of workers, the necessary measures, adapted to the subject matter of the activities and the size of the undertaking and/or establishment, and taking into account other persons present on site;
measures to organize the necessary relations with external services, in particular as regards first aid, emergency medical assistance, rescue and fire-fighting;
the use of expertise within the company and/or the establishment, or expertise from outside the company and/or the establishment to organize protection and prevention activities;
the adequacy level of training provided to each worker in the interests of their health and safety;
the assessment of the risks that the company’s activities may have for the environment insofar as health or working conditions are concerned;
measures taken to protect the environment, insofar as the health or working conditions of employees are concerned.
Health and safety representatives have the right to ask employers to take appropriate measures and to submit proposals to the employer in order to mitigate any risk to workers and/or to eliminate sources of danger.
Health and safety representative shall be involved in a balanced way, or at least be consulted in advance by the employer with regard to:
any action that may have a substantial effect on health and safety;
the appointment of designated workers responsible for the protection and prevention of occupational risks in the company;
activities recommended by designated workers;
the employer’s assessment of health and safety risks;
occupational health and safety;
devising and providing training for the company’s employees in occupational health and safety.
The health and safety representative has the right to ask the employer to take appropriate measures and may submit proposals to the employer to mitigate any risk to employees.
Practical guide for the Health and Safety representative
Find more information in our publication downloadable HERE.
Designated worker
Who is the designated worker?
The employer shall designate one or more workers to carry out the protection and occupational risk prevention activities of the company; these workers are called designated workers.
If there is insufficient expertise in the company to organize these protection and prevention activities, the employer must consult with external experts (trained persons or protection and prevention services).
The appointment and activities of one or more designated workers do not relieve the manager, the site manager, the person in charge of department or other personnel of the establishment of their own safety responsibilities.
The number of designated workers required per company is determined depending on the number of employees and the number of at-risk jobs in the company.
In accordance with the Grand-Ducal Regulation dated 9 June 2006, companies are divided into seven classes (A, B, C, D, E, F, and G) which determine the basic training and professional experience of designated workers, in addition to other items. The classification of companies is set out in Appendix 1 of the Grand Ducal Regulation dated 9 June 2006.
Appointing designated workers is the responsibility of the employer, after consultation with the Health and Safety representative.
The employer cannot force an employee to accept appointment to the assignment as designated worker.
For companies with less than 50 employees, the employer can assume the function of the designated worker himself if he meets the legal requirements and if he has sufficient time.
Where a company operates on more than one site, each site with more than 200 workers must have a designated worker.
If a designated worker resigns, the employer must appoint a new designated worker within 2 months.
To carry out tasks assigned to him, a designated worker must meet the minimum qualification criteria and must have the professional experience listed in the Grand Ducal regulation dated 9 June 2006, considering the classification of companies.
Designated workers assist their employers in implementing protective and preventive measures within the company. They are specialists in occupational health and safety.
They must be able to:
appropriate and organize overall supervision of compliance with legal and regulatory provisions in force in the field of health and safety for the workers;
outline a company strategy to develop the health and safety of its workers;
monitor the working methods and means used, the assessment and study of risks and the stipulations relating to accident prevention;
perform regular safety inspections; maintain safety records and maintenance registers;
develop, maintain, and diffuse plans for health and safety, alerts, alarms, response actions and evacuations;
prepare, organize, and conduct evacuation drills;
evaluate the situation of the company or establishment about occupational health and safety;
maintain relations with the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines, inspection bodies and the occupational health service to which the company is affiliated and with the other inspection authorities in the field of health and safety as well as with the emergency services for dealing with accidents and fires.
Employers shall provide designated workers with authority and skills commensurate with their duties:
provide them with the necessary information, equipment, and budgetary resources;
provide for their training and continuing education;
request their opinion on projects affecting safety, on proposals for regulations and instructions affecting safety, and on budgetary proposals affecting safety
Designated worker must be able to devote themselves exclusively to their security duties for a period commensurate with the size and type of the establishment.
Designated workers must have a minimum amount of time available to be able to perform his duties. The average minimum time available to the designated worker is set out in Appendix 2 to the Grand Ducal Regulation dated 9 June 2006.
The minimum average time in minutes that the designated worker must have per day can be calculated as follows:
(No. of employees x Z sec) + (No. of workstations at risk x Y sec)