Workplace Safety and Health Act · 2024 Revised Edition · Part · General Duties of Persons at Workplaces
19. Duties of occupier of common areas
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
For the purposes of subsection (2), where a building comprises one or more workplaces, any common property or limited common property of that building (referred to in this section as the common area) which is used by persons at work in any such workplace or is used by such persons to move through shall be treated as part of their workplace.
building
“building” includes — (a) the whole or any part of any house or any other structure, whether used for the purpose of human habitation or otherwise; and (b) any structure, support or foundation connected to the house or structure referred to in paragraph (a);
It shall be the duty of the occupier of the common area to comply with any provision of this Act with respect to —
occupier
“occupier”, in relation to any premises or part of any premises, means — (a) in the case of a factory where a certificate of registration or a factory permit has to be obtained in relation to the premises pursuant to any regulations, the person who is, or is required to be, the holder of that certificate or permit; and (b) in the case of any other premises, the person who has charge, management or control of those premises either on his own account or as agent of another person, whether or not he is also the owner of those premises;
electric generators and motors located in the common area;
hoists and lifts, lifting gear, lifting appliances and lifting machines located in the common area;
means of access into or egress from the common area;
any machinery or plant located in the common area which belongs to or is supplied by the owner or occupier of the common area;
signage and evacuation plans in the common area in cases of emergency; and
safety and environmental conditions in the common area.
In this section —
“common property” means —
in relation to any land and building comprised or to be comprised in a strata title plan, such part of the land and building —
not comprised in any lot or proposed lot in that strata title plan; and
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used or capable of being used or enjoyed by occupiers of two or more lots or proposed lots; or
in relation to any other land and building, such part of the land and building —
not comprised in any non-strata lot; and
used or capable of being used or enjoyed by occupiers of two or more non-strata lots within that land or building;
“limited common property” means such part of the common property in a parcel that is —
in the case of common property to be comprised in a strata title plan, designated in the sale and purchase agreement of any proposed lot in the parcel for the exclusive benefit of the purchasers of any two or more (but not all) of those proposed lots in the parcel; or
in the case of common property comprised in a strata title plan, designated in the strata title plan or a comprehensive resolution passed by the management corporation constituted in respect of that strata title plan for the exclusive benefit of the subsidiary proprietors of two or more (but not all) lots in that strata title plan, but does not include —
the foundations, columns, beams, supports, walls, roofs of, and any window installed in any external wall of, any building within that parcel;
and
any chute, pipe, wire, cable, duct and other facility for the passage or provision of water, sewage, drainage, gas, oil, electricity, telephone, radio, television, garbage, heating and cooling systems, or other similar services, not comprised in any lot or proposed lot and necessary for the common use of the occupiers of all lots or proposed lots in that parcel;
“occupier”, in relation to a common area, includes the strata or management corporation having control of that common area;
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“parcel” means the whole of any land, building and common property comprised or to be comprised in a strata title plan.
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;
building
Defined · s 4“building” includes — (a) the whole or any part of any house or any other structure, whether used for the purpose of human habitation or otherwise; and (b) any structure, support or foundation connected to the house or structure referred to in paragraph (a);
lifting gear
Defined · s 4“lifting gear” includes — (a) any chain, rope, chain sling, webbing sling, rope sling, ring, hook, shackle, swivel or eyebolt; and (b) any cage or work platform used for carrying persons while it is suspended from the load line of a crane;
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;
occupier
Defined · s 4“occupier”, in relation to any premises or part of any premises, means — (a) in the case of a factory where a certificate of registration or a factory permit has to be obtained in relation to the premises pursuant to any regulations, the person who is, or is required to be, the holder of that certificate or permit; and (b) in the case of any other premises, the person who has charge, management or control of those premises either on his own account or as agent of another person, whether or not he is also the owner of those premises;
owner
Defined · s 4“owner”, in relation to any premises, means — (a) the person receiving the rents or profits for the lease of the premises, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for any other person; or (b) the person who would so receive the rents or profits if the premises were leased;
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