What are employees’ health and safety responsibilities?

Your actions affect colleagues and other people

A shortcut can expose someone who did not take part in the decision: a colleague using the next machine, a cleaner working later or a customer passing an access route. Taking care includes thinking about those people and speaking up when the method is no longer safe.

In Great Britain, section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act sets out reasonable care and cooperation. HSE’s worker guidance translates this into following training and raising serious concerns. Northern Ireland has its own framework; HSENI explains employees’ responsibilities there.

What should you do during everyday work?

• Use the agreed method. Follow the task instruction and ask if it is unclear or no longer fits the work.
• Use equipment as trained. Include protective equipment and safety features; do not bypass them to make a job faster.
• Report a defect or missing control. Tell the appropriate person before the problem becomes an accepted workaround.
• Cooperate with checks and instruction. Explain what happens in practice and raise difficulties with the method.
• Work within your limits. Being willing to help does not establish competence or authorisation for an unfamiliar task.

The employer must provide suitable information, training and supervision. HSE’s training guidance makes clear that people need instructions and support suited to their work, including when responsibilities change.

Use a clear report and escalation route

Explain what you have observed without guessing the technical cause. Include the location, equipment or task, people who may be affected and whether the condition is still present. Follow the site’s safe procedure for restricting use or obtaining immediate help.

Keep yourself and others out of danger while seeking help. Do not attempt electrical repairs or another specialist intervention just because the usual person is unavailable.

Worked example: helping with a new task

Hypothetical example. A retail employee is asked to help move a delivery using equipment they have not used before. They explain that they need instruction and confirmation of what they are authorised to do. The supervisor arranges an appropriate method and checks understanding before the work proceeds.

The useful contribution is identifying the gap early. Guessing how equipment works, or copying another worker without checking the method, can expose both people. Equally, reporting a concern should lead to a management decision rather than leaving the worker to invent a solution.

Avoid unsafe assumptions about responsibility

• “It is only my risk.” Consider people affected by your acts or omissions.
• “I reported it, so the task can carry on.” Check the safe arrangements and escalation rather than assuming a report has made the condition safe.
• “I have a certificate, so I can use any equipment.” Confirm task-specific instruction and authorisation.
• “Safety is entirely the employee’s job.” Worker cooperation does not remove the employer’s duties.

Where a concern is not resolved, follow the workplace route through a manager or health and safety representative and seek appropriate regulator or employment advice. The right route depends on the issue; this guide does not decide an individual employment dispute.

Next steps

1. Find your task instructions and reporting contact.
2. Check the limits of what you are trained and authorised to do.
3. Raise missing controls or unclear instructions before improvising.
4. Confirm the response and safe arrangements before relying on a fix.

Read HSE’s worker law guide — A plain-language summary of employer and employee responsibilities.