Occupational health and safety

Occupational health and safety relates to all measures to achieve more safety, health and welfare of people at their workplace. Every occupation has health or safety risks associated with it, so that an employer has a responsibility to organise this work as safely as possible. This can be very broad. It does not only cover first aid provisions and the safe operation of heavy machinery, but also infection prevention, ergonomic best practices and methods for responding to workplace violence. Also legal requirements exist which aim to achieve health and safety at the workplace, such as mandatory measures to eliminate or mitigate jobsite hazards or minimise the consequences of workplace incidents. Other legal requirements can pertain to providing adequate and appropriate training and instruction, mandatory rest periods, the design of a work site, technical standards of equipment, the use of dangerous substances and materials or medical examinations. Not following these requirements can lead to criminal sanctions.