Workplace Safety and Health Act · 2024 Revised Edition · Part · General Duties of Persons at Workplaces
16. Duties of manufacturers and suppliers of machinery, equipment or hazardous substances used at work
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
This section applies only to machinery, equipment or hazardous substance specified in Schedule 5.
machinery
“machinery” includes — (a) any oil engine, gas engine, steam engine and any other machine in which mechanical movement, either linear, rotated or both, takes place; (b) any steam boiler, gas cylinder, air receiver, steam receiver, steam container or refrigerating plant pressure receiver; (c) any appliance for transmission of power by ropes, belts, chains, driving straps or bands or gearing; and (d) any electrical generator or electrical motor, but does not include any machinery used solely for the propulsion of vehicles;
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Subject to this section, it shall be the duty of any person who manufactures or supplies any machinery, equipment or hazardous substance for use at work to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable —
at work
“at work” means — (a) in relation to an employee, all times when the employee is performing work in connection with any trade, business, profession or undertaking carried on by his employer, wherever that work is carried out; (b) in relation to a self-employed person, all times when that person is performing work as a self-employed person, wherever the work is carried out; and (c) in any other case, all times when the person is performing work at the direction of the person who engaged him, wherever the work is carried out;
that the following information about the safe use of the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance is available to any person to whom it is supplied for use at work —
the precautions (if any) to be taken for the proper use and maintenance of the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance;
the health hazards (if any) associated with the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance;
the information relating to and the results of any test or examination of the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance under paragraph (c) that are relevant to its safe use;
that the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance is safe, and without risk to health, when properly used;
that the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance is tested and examined so as to comply with the obligation imposed by paragraph (b).
The duties imposed on any person to whom subsection (2)
applies shall —
apply only if the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance is manufactured or supplied in the course of any trade, business, profession or undertaking carried on by that person, whether for profit or not;
apply whether or not the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance is exclusively manufactured or supplied for use by persons at work;
extend to the supply of the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance by way of sale, transfer, lease or hire and whether as principal or agent, and to the supply of the machinery,
Workplace Safety and Health equipment or hazardous substance to any person for the purpose of supply to others.
The duties imposed on any person to whom subsection (2)
applies do not apply to a person by reason only that he supplies the machinery or equipment under a hire-purchase agreement, conditional sale agreement or credit-sale agreement to another person (referred to in this section as the customer) in the course of a business of financing the acquisition of the machinery or equipment by the customer from others.
Where a person (referred to in this subsection as the ostensible supplier) supplies any machinery or equipment for use at work to a customer under a hire-purchase agreement, conditional sale agreement or credit-sale agreement, and the ostensible supplier —
carries on the business of financing the acquisition of goods by others by means of such agreements; and
in the course of that business acquired his interest in the machinery or equipment supplied to the customer as a means of financing its acquisition by the customer from a third person
(referred to in this subsection as the effective supplier), the effective supplier shall be treated for the purposes of this section as supplying the machinery or equipment to the customer instead of to the ostensible supplier, and any duty imposed by subsection (2) on a supplier shall accordingly apply to the effective supplier, and not to the ostensible supplier.
Where a person designs, manufactures or supplies any machinery, equipment or hazardous substance for use at work and does so for or to another on the basis of a written undertaking by that other to take specified steps sufficient to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the machinery, equipment or hazardous substance will be safe and without risk to health when properly used, the undertaking shall have the effect of relieving the first-mentioned person from the duty imposed by subsection (2)(b) to such extent as is reasonable having regard to the terms of the undertaking.
Any person required under subsection (2)(c) to ensure that any machinery, equipment or hazardous substance is tested and examined so as to
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comply with the obligation imposed by subsection (2)(b) shall be regarded as having complied with subsection (2)(c) to the extent that —
the test and examination has already been carried out otherwise than by, or on behalf of, that person; and
it is reasonable for him to rely on that test and examination.
For the purposes of this section, an absence of safety, or a risk to health, shall be disregarded in so far as the case in or in relation to which it would arise is shown to be one the occurrence of which could not reasonably be foreseen.
In this section, “supplier”, in relation to any machinery, equipment or hazardous substance, does not include a manufacturer of those items when supplying, but includes an importer when supplying, those items.
Terms defined in s 4
at work
Defined · s 4“at work” means — (a) in relation to an employee, all times when the employee is performing work in connection with any trade, business, profession or undertaking carried on by his employer, wherever that work is carried out; (b) in relation to a self-employed person, all times when that person is performing work as a self-employed person, wherever the work is carried out; and (c) in any other case, all times when the person is performing work at the direction of the person who engaged him, wherever the work is carried out;
machinery
Defined · s 4“machinery” includes — (a) any oil engine, gas engine, steam engine and any other machine in which mechanical movement, either linear, rotated or both, takes place; (b) any steam boiler, gas cylinder, air receiver, steam receiver, steam container or refrigerating plant pressure receiver; (c) any appliance for transmission of power by ropes, belts, chains, driving straps or bands or gearing; and (d) any electrical generator or electrical motor, but does not include any machinery used solely for the propulsion of vehicles;
principal
Defined · s 4“principal” means a person who, in connection with any trade, business, profession or undertaking carried on by him, engages any other person otherwise than under a contract of service — (a) to supply any labour for gain or reward; or (b) to do any work for gain or reward;
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