To register new application for WSH Officer, please visit here

To replace the Certificate of Approval, please visit here

To cancel approved registration as a WSH Officer, please visit here

For suspension and cancellation of WSH Officer application, please visit here

You can:

• Enquire by email to wshofficer@shena.gov.bn
• Contact us at 2382000

Please note that processing times vary by application. Your application may also be delayed because of an error, such as missing documents or an incomplete application

Please refer to the definition of factory and criteria for a workplace that required to have a WSH Officer here

For further information, please refer to Workplace Safety and Health (Workplace Safety and Health Officers) Regulations, 2014 here

All approved WSH Officer who have been approved to act as WSH Officer prior to the issuance of 2021/NTI/03 will be registered under new application process.

Under the Radiation Protection Order, 2018, a "radioactive material" means any material containing a radioactive substance giving it a specific or total radioactivity greater than 70 becquerels per gram (70 Bq/g) (0.002 u(i/g) or 70 kBq/kg.

Under the Radiation Protection Order, 2018, a controlled apparatus is:

1. an apparatus that produces ionising radiation when energised or that would, if assembled or repaired, be capable of producing ionising radiation when energised;
2. an apparatus that produces ionising radiation because it contains radioactive material; and
3. an apparatus prescribed by regulations made under this Order that produces harmful non-ionising radiation when energised.

The radiation activities that require to be licensed are as follows:

1. Import and export of radioactive material and/or controlled apparatus;
2. Use or deal (including storage and disposal) with radioactive material and/or controlled apparatus;
3. Manufacture of radioactive material and/or controlled apparatus;
4. Transport of radioactive material; and
5. Sale of radioactive material and/or controlled apparatus.

Please refer to the General Guideline for Radiation Licensing Application (2020).

Your company will need to be licensed with the Radiation Department, SHENA before you bring any radioactive material or controlled apparatus into Brunei Darussalam. Once licensed, you are required to submit an online permit application (www.bdnsw.gov.bn) to the Brunei Darussalam National Single Window (BDNSW) through the Royal Customs and Excise Department (RCED).

Currently there is no disposal facility for radioactive material in Brunei Darussalam. Therefore, your company is required to return the radioactive material to the country of origin / supplier after obtaining written approval from the Authority.

Please note that any disposal of any radioactive material, whether in working condition or otherwise must receive prior written approval of the Authority before disposal, pursuant to Section 6(3) of the Radiation Protection Order, 2018.

Currently there is no disposal facility for controlled apparatus in Brunei Darussalam. In the absence of such facility in Brunei Darussalam, the controlled apparatus is recommended to be returned to the supplier for proper disposal. Your company is advised to seek professional assistance in dismantling the apparatus and ensure the x-ray tube is properly disposed.

Please note that any disposal of any controlled apparatus, whether in working condition or otherwise must receive prior written approval of the Authority before disposal, pursuant to Section 6(3) of the Radiation Protection Order, 2018.

No. Fixed storage facilities that are in use are not allowed to be shared with other companies.

Yes, as stipulated under Section 6(1)(d) of the Radiation Protection Order, 2018.

No. Any information contained in a permit that has been approved or revoked cannot be amended. The company is advised to resubmit a new permit application through BDNSW.

Radiation Department, SHENA regulates apparatus or materials that emit ionising radiation. Telecommunication devices do not fall under this category.

Diesel generators do not emit ionising radiation.

Facilities that carry out operations involving ionising radiation should be licensed with SHENA. By virtue of being licensed, the operators are to carry out procedures that do not pose significant risk to the public and environment.

You are advised to seek medical assistance. If you are a radiation worker, you are also strongly advised to contact the Radiation Department, SHENA and bring along with you relevant supporting documents.

There is bound to be radiation exposure from cosmic radiation (natural radiation). However, the amount of radiation exposure is not known to cause significant harm to adult, children and unborn child.

Commercially available X-ray machines are designed to prevent public and worker from being exposed. Nevertheless, radiation worker is required to take extra precaution as part of the workers' safety requirement.

Public is exposed to naturally occurring radioactive material that is present in our environments such as certain fruits, the floors and walls of our homes and even the air we breathe.

The Radiation Protection Order, 2018 can be found in SHENA website www.shena.gov.bn and the Attorney General's Chambers website www.agc.gov.bn.

Every person who sells any radioactive material or controlled apparatus shall immediately give notice of sale to SHENA, together with the name, address and prescribed particulars of the person whom it was sold (Section 6 (2) and 7 (2) of the Radiation Protection Order, 2018). Any person selling radioactive material or controlled apparatus should obtain the appropriate licence for this purpose.

Every person who purchases any radioactive material or controlled apparatus shall immediately give notice of purchase to SHENA, together with the name, address and prescribed particulars of the person whom it was purchased (Section 6(3) and 7 (3) of the Radiation Protection Order, 2018). Any person purchasing radioactive material or controlled apparatus should obtain the appropriate licence for this purpose.

Any person who contravenes these sections is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $100,000 imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both; and in the case of a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $10,000,000 (Section 6 (5) and 7(5) of the Radiation Protection Order, 2018).

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as pneumonia and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the recently discovered coronavirus. It is caused by the new virus which is unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

Evidence has shown that the disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth when a person with COVID-19 coughs, sneezes or exhales. These droplets may also land on objects and surfaces around the person from where other people can catch the COVID-19 virus by touching these objects or surfaces, and thereafter touching their eyes, nose or mouth.

The Ministry of Health is actively monitoring the evolving situation. The public is advised to remain vigilant, maintain good personal hygiene and to keep abreast with the latest updates from the Ministry of Health website and press releases, and via their official Instagram page @mohbrunei.

Typical symptoms of COVID-19 may include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath. In more severe infection, it can result in severe chest infection leading to acute respiratory distress or even death, particularly in the elderly and those with chronic medical problems.

The time between catching the virus and the beginning of having symptoms is called the 'incubation period.' It may take up to 14 days before you develop any symptoms but estimated to be most commonly around 5 days.

Currently, only limited information is available. The risk is thought to be higher for the elderly and people with chronic medical conditions, as is the case with other types of pneumonia. According to the report in the link below, it says that approximately one-third to one-half of reported patients had underlying medical comorbidities, including diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-guidance-management-patients.html

It is advisable for senior citizens and patients with chronic diseases to take extra precautions, such as avoiding crowded places and public transportation, in addition to daily precautionary measures.

The Ministry of Health has also developed Guidelines for Vulnerable Populations during COVID-19 epidemic which can be accessed here.

Practise simple hygiene habits by covering your mouth and nose with a tissue paper when you cough or sneeze; disposing the tissue paper immediately and washing your hands thoroughly with soap and also regularly. If possible, adopt social or physical distancing and avoid close contact (within ~1 or 2 meters) with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

Wash your hands frequently

• Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or washing them with soap and running water. Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer kills viruses and bacteria that may be on your hands.
• Maintain 2 meters physical distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. When someone coughs or sneezes, small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus are sprayed. If you are in close proximity, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease.

Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth at all times.

• Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, your hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and make you sick.

Practise good hygiene etiquette.

• Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good hygiene etiquette. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately and wash your hands thoroughly with soap and running water or use an alcohol-based sanitizer.

If you have fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, seek medical care early.

Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, call the Ministry of Health's hotline: Health Advice Line 148. You are advised to wear a surgical facemask when you go to the nearest health facility.

In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, organisations and building owners should take all necessary precautions by providing temperature checks at all entry points, disinfecting all public spaces in the workplace and providing disposable face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitizers for use by staff or visitors, among others.

The Workplace Safety and Health Officer / HSE representative / HSE focal point or relevant health and safety department / unit should promote and communicate necessary information related to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic such as proper cough and sneeze etiquette, correct way to wash hands and social or physical distancing measures. This can be done through various means such as briefings, posters and intranet communications. Ensure to update your protective measures according to the escalation factors and advice provided by MOH and SHENA.

Procedures should be in place to manage staff and/or visitors who are feeling unwell and a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to be developed to ensure continued operations of the organisation.

SHENA has developed a General Advisory for Workplace in response to COVID-19 which provides guidance as to measures to implement at the workplace to protect employees and curb the spread of COVID-19 can be found here.

SHENA has also prepared a Workplace Assessment Checklist for COVID-19 in English and Malay to be utilized by all workplaces to assess organizational readiness to respond to COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health has produced infographics on infectious controls measures at the workplace which can be found here as well as protection of the workplace against respiratory infections which can be found here.

A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) outlines the procedures in place in the event of any disasters including pandemics such as COVID-19 and these may include but are not limited to Work from Home (WFH) procedures, segregation of teams and work shifts, reporting procedure when staff is feeling unwell and the use of teleworking to circumvent face to face interactions.

Every organisation should develop and implement their BCP during this time to ensure minimal disruption to operations while also ensuring the safety of their staff and visitors.

If the staff has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the duty officer from Ministry of Health will contact the relevant Head of Department. If you are made aware of the confirmed COVID-19 case from other sources, you may contact the Health Advice line at 148 with contact details of your organisation's dedicated focal point (senior officer) for future correspondences with the Ministry of Health.

The dedicated focal point should then compile a list of all other staff that have been in contact with the confirmed case including those who share an office space, meeting rooms and staff who were in a confined space with the suspected case for more than 30 minutes.

The identified staff should be sent home for self-isolation and the compiled list to be shared by the focal point with the Ministry of Health duty officer and await further instructions.

It is also recommended for the workplace and building to be disinfected especially public areas in accordance with Ministry of Health guidelines.

More details can be found here.

If the Ministry of Health Duty Officer has not contacted you or your organisation yet, you can reach out to them via the Ministry of Health "Health Advice Line 148". Contact tracing will be the responsibility of the team at the Ministry of Health (MOH) who will undertake to identify close contacts of the confirmed cases. This is to determine if the nature of contact poses risk of virus transmission. If you have been identified as a close contact of the confirmed case, you will be advised on the measures that you should take i.e. in this case you will be asked to go for a swab test and will have to undergo self-isolation (under quarantine order).

Close contacts are defined as:

1. anyone who has had close contact with a confirmed case within about 1 meter distance for at least 30 minutes in an enclosed area or;
2. anyone who has stayed at the same place (e.g. household, office space, social gathering) with a confirmed case. The health status of all close contacts will be monitored closely for 14 days from their last exposure to the case.

It is also recommended for the workplace and building to be disinfected especially public areas in accordance to Ministry of Health guidelines which can be found here.

For further enquiries you may contact the Ministry of Health 24-hour hotline at 148 or visit healthinfo.gov.bn for more information.

This will depend on whether you have been in close contact (within 1 meter or less) with the case who was tested positive for a period of about 30 minutes or more - then you may be considered at risk and will be asked to go for a test.

If you have only met him/her for a short time or only spoke briefly or passed by him/her, then your risk of infection is low. Please monitor your health by checking your temperature twice a day. If you develop fever, cough or any respiratory symptoms, please wear a facemask and seek medical attention promptly. Call the Health Advice Line 148 for further advice on where you should go to seek medical attention in this case. By following good hygiene practices and precautions, you can reduce the potential of contracting the illness.

Yes, there are guidelines that have been set by the Ministry of Health. You can get these from their website here.

Some quick guidance:

• Ensure workstations are regularly disinfected, including equipment, based on manufacturer's recommendations.
• All work surfaces should be cleaned at least daily with detergent and water, and disinfectant if necessary (e.g. 1 in 99 diluted household bleach of 5.25% solution).
• Frequently touched areas such as escalator handrails, lift control panels, door knobs, light switches etc. should be cleaned more often subject to the frequency of use.
• Hard floor surfaces should be cleaned with wet vacuum system or damp mopping using detergent and water.
• Clean public toilets at least once a day and as when necessary especially if visibly soiled or presence of an unpleasant odour. Wipe the rim, seat and lid of toilet bowl with 1 in 99 diluted household bleach (5.25%) solution, rinse with water and then wipe dry.

Cleaning supervisors should undertake regular monitoring to ensure that hygiene standards are strictly observed.

Based on Ministry of Health's Guidelines on Social Gatherings and events, Meetings or Training Sessions; any meetings or training sessions should not exceed more than 30 people. Please ensure social or physical distancing measures are applied (at least 1 to 2 meters apart), as well as keeping a record of all attendees contact details (name and phone numbers).

It is also advised to remind all the participants that if they are unwell, they should not come to the meeting or training sessions. Keep the room well ventilated by opening windows if possible and remind the participants to frequently wash their hands with running water and soap or use hand sanitizers.

However, keep in mind that although the limit is 30 people, this would also depend on the size of the room being used. Hence the importance of allowing for at least 1 to 2 meters social or physical distancing between individuals in a certain space.

It is highly recommended for organisations to conduct their meetings and/or trainings via teleconferencing whenever possible.

The Guidelines on Social Gatherings and events, Meetings or Training Sessions can be found here.

Generally, it should be safe to receive and handle documents from external parties. Studies have shown that coronaviruses may persist on surfaces for a few hours up to several days depending on the different conditions e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity in the environment.

However, if you think a document may be contaminated you may take extra precautions such as cleaning with simple disinfectant or leaving it out in the sun for a few hours, also ensuring those who handle the documents wash their hands with soap and running water or use hand sanitizer. Always avoid touching eyes, mouth and nose.

​Yes, it should be safe to use the elevator given that social or physical distancing (1 meter or more) is maintained and the area including elevator buttons are disinfected regularly by the organization or building owner.

Since the 16 March 2020, all citizens and residents of Brunei Darussalam have been restricted from leaving the country, except in certain circumstances such as undergoing urgent medical care, attending court hearings or resuming study abroad.

If a business trip or essential travel is required, permission needs to be obtained through the Prime Minister's Office. Requests for permission to leave the country can now be applied online from the Prime Minister's Office website. Further information can also be obtained from the Guidelines for Application to Exit Country for Citizens and Residents of Brunei Darussalam from the aforementioned website.

Employers shall ensure employees abide with the necessary actions taken upon their return of travelling from countries based on the instructions given by the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry of Health has categorised worker's exposure to COVID-19 here and utility workers are considered to have low exposure risk. In the instance that there is an individual undergoing self-isolation in that household, it should still be safe for workers to enter the home given that a healthy person attends to the worker and the self-isolating individual is complying with the self-isolation guidelines in which the individual must stay in his/her room at all times.

Organisations and individuals can make financial donations directly to the COVID-19 Relief Fund via online transfers with the current account number 1010070123 (BIBD) or via the BIBD mobile app. The COVID-19 Relief Fund was first launched by the Yang Berhormat Minister at the Prime Minister's Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II on 21 March 2020 with the objective of easing the financial burden on managing and tackling COVID-19 in the country. (reference)

There is also an opportunity to become a volunteer under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports to aid in the COVID-19 situation. The application form can be found here.

To find out more about what support is required by the Ministry of Health, you may contact the Ministry of Health Emergency Operations Centre at 2381383.

You can get the latest global statistics and situation on COVID-19 from the World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 Situation Report here.

Brunei Darussalam recorded its first COVID-19 case on the 9th March 2020. For the latest statistics, press releases and information concerning COVID-19 in Brunei Darussalam, you can visit the Ministry of Health Website here.

Currently, there is no specific requirement under the law for companies to submit HSE performance report. However, under the WSH (Incident Reporting) Regulations, 2014, Employers or Occupiers of workplaces are required to report work-related fatalities, serious injuries, occupational illness, dangerous occurrence, and major accidents to SHENA. The regulations further states that the Employers and Occupiers shall keep records of such incidents and provide the extracts of the records as/when required by the Authority (SHENA).

The HSE performance data required by SHENA is not the same information as requested by PA. Furthermore, PA requires submission of performance data from the main oil & gas operators, which include combined figures and statistics for each operator and its contractors, whereas SHENA requires the individual statistical data from each company/contractor.

For individual companies, benefits of actively compiling and publishing their own HSE performance data under the platform include:

• Building a good reputation as a company that is responsible, caring and trustworthy.
• Elevating the company profile as one that is committed to monitoring and improving their HSE performance which adds value and competitive advantage for business opportunities and attractive employment prospects.
• Ensuring continuous improvement in its HSE performance by utilising the available data for reviews and studies to prevent further and more severe injuries with an economic profit by avoiding loss of hours from injuries.
• Actively contribute to national data collection of HSE performance and potentially influence future policy-making and initiatives towards HSE improvement.

The data is to be updated on a monthly basis and submission or data input is to be done by the middle (15^th) of the following month. The data input into the system should take less than 10 minutes given the information is readily compiled beforehand.

The system has gone online since late last year. Companies are expected to start reporting now and retrospectively backtrack the data input from January 2022.

SHENA will not verify the reported data as it is submitted into the system. The companies themselves should ensure the accuracy and validity of the information. However, some verifications may be carried out during regulatory enforcement activities conducted by SHENA, or after conducting an analysis of the collective data, e.g. on an annual basis. In these cases, if there is discrepancy in the data, SHENA may request the company to provide further information or supporting documents.

The current system allows data that has been previously reported to be changed at any time by the authorised user(s). However, if companies do make amendments to figures from previous months, please alert SHENA via info@shena.gov.bn for our records.

The Business Reporting (BR) Portal allows companies to access and update company's data at any time and currently the Ministry of Finance and Economy has no plans to lock the data field of previous year(s); this is to allow room for companies that is new to the BR portal to report data for previous year(s).

Data that has been submitted by companies will be save periodically by BR Admin for reference and data will be over-ridded by the latest data reported by companies. Hence, there should be no issues with data integrity of the system as the data is saved on a weekly basis.

The individual company's data stored in the system is secured from any tampering as it is only accessible to the authorised company representatives for data entry and viewing. Only nominated individuals from the Authority are granted access to view this information. However, the Authority may share some extracts of the data to other agencies for regulatory purposes as deemed relevant.

SHENA does not intend to request for any consent from respective companies to share their HSE information to other agencies. We are not disclosing any sensitive information like personal information, companies' proprietary data, etc. The information here consists of numbers representing companies' performance measures, which should be made available and widely published/displayed by the companies to demonstrate their commitments on HSE.

Apart from SHENA, the HSE performance data may be shared with other relevant authorities and government agencies for a number of reasons, such as but not limited to:

• Selection of bid list during tendering process.
• Cross-referencing of information among agencies.
• Potential recognition and/or awards in future.

For SHENA, the collective information will be reviewed and analysed to identify areas of concerns and potential gaps in legislation/ guidance which may lead to specific focused initiatives being introduced. The data could also influence updates to the National HSE Themes and strategic actions to be carried out in order to realise the national aspiration towards Wawasan 2035.

As mentioned above, currently there is no specific legal clause which mandates companies to submit HSE performance reporting to SHENA under the Business Reporting Portal hence no legal action will be taken. However, companies are strongly encouraged to actively participate in the initiative in working together towards improving HSE standards not only within the company but also nationally through provision of accurate HSE performance data and analyses ensuring focused and strategic policy-making and national initiatives.

Exposure hours are not necessarily be related to radiation equipment or any other equipment, but time spent doing work which is generally divided into two parts - employees working in the office; and those working in field (frontline).

The man hours should be logged accordingly i.e. the time at office should be logged under office hours and time in the field as frontline hours. However, if a regular office staff goes out to the field for occasional short visits or inspections, then in principle all his/her work (exposure) hours should still be categorised as office hours.

Frontline staff are those who are primarily working in the field on a regular or shift-work pattern and executing operational work/duties, as opposed to those who are officed based in the support functions of the organisation.

Companies are responsible for the safety and well-being of attachment students as per the duties under the Workplace Safety and Health Order, 2009 and should be included in the reported data under the system.

Working from Home within the set working hours should be included within the exposure hours.

If the company is dormant in terms of operations, i.e. without on-going activities, but maintains minimal administrative work in the office, then the HSE performance reporting would still be relevant, where an incident may still occur that should be recorded and reported to the system. If a company is totally dormant, i.e. inactive, then obviously there would be zero data to report.

For this reporting system SHENA requires the data of the individual company to be reported, without the inclusion of the performance of their sub-contractors. The sub-contractors should be carrying out their own reporting. This is to allow for a more accurate representation of HSE performance of all companies across all industry sectors, rather than having those contractors and sub-contractors 'hidden' behind their clients or main contractors. The main companies (clients or main contractors), however, may maintain their own reporting system including the (sub)contractors and SHENA will not interfere with any of those arrangements

No, this should not be included in the data to be reported to the HSE performance reporting system since the incident occurs outside of work hours and not covered under the reported exposure hours.

Near-misses are not considered a reportable incident under the Workplace Safety and Health (Incident Reporting) Regulations, 2014. However, if a specific near-miss is dealt with via an intervention process, then it is recordable under their intervention system, hence may be included in the HSE performance reporting.

Currently, there are no plans from SHENA to send out monthly reminders to companies for filling in of data. Companies are expected to conduct their due diligence and ensure data is updated by the 15th of each consecutive month.

Occupational disease should be confirmed and declared by a professional or registered medical practitioner i.e. a person registered under the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act (Chapter 12).

SHENA acknowledges that different organisations have different classifications under the intervention system, and it is up to them how they manage those and what they do with the data for their own study and analysis. However, the HSE performance reporting system only requires the actual number of interventions made, as an indication of the active implementation of the system.

SHENA will not interfere in the internal arrangements of the company in relation to the designated person to update data into the Business Reporting (BR) Portal including the HSE performance monitoring system. The HSE personnel may share relevant data to the designated person for monthly updating of HSE performance. However, the company is expected to carry out their internal verification and validation process to ensure that the data submitted into the system is valid and accurate.

Currently, Business Reporting (BR) Portal has two types of user authorization access:

1. HR Access - has access to all Business Reporting sections (from 1 to 7).
2. Admin Access - has access to Business Reporting sections except for Section 4 - Employment as it contains confidential employee data.

Currently, Business Reporting (BR) Portal requires owner, director and authorized personnel to log using individual e-Darussalam account to access the company account in BR Portal. This will enable BR Admin to keep track of people updating the company account in BR portal through their individual IC number.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy strongly encourages any individual or unregistered entity to register under Registry of Companies and Business Names (ROCBN). By law, all business entities must be registered under Registry of Companies and Business Names (ROCBN). ROCBN data will automatically be linked to BR portal and therefore the company account automatically be created under the Business Reporting (BR) Portal. If your registered business cannot be found or accessed under the BR Portal then there might be a technical issue, please email the BR Admin through br@mofe.gov.bn

SHENA may extract and analyse the data and share this with other agencies for beneficial purposes. SHENA may also generate statistics and reports related to the national HSE performance across the different industries for general publication without divulging company name and details. This will be useful for companies to benchmark their current performance against the other companies within their industry.

SHENA is currently considering the feasibility of such national recognition and award mechanism in collaboration with other relevant agencies to incentivize continuous improvement in HSE performance among industries.

Depending on the severity of the issue, SHENA can either give verbal warning and recommendations for improvement of any minor issues; or for more serious matters, legal notices such as Remedial Order (RO) or Stop Work Order (SWO) may be issued. The RO and SWO has specific schedule of items to be addressed and improved by the company, once the companies carry out the corrective actions, SHENA will verify the actions undertaken and if those sufficiently meet the standards and legal requirements then the RO/ SWO may be lifted. SHENA does not intend to delay any project, but to help the companies improve their compliance and HSE performance.

Under the Workplace Safety and Health Order, 2009 (WSHO, 2009) specific duties are outlined for the Principal, Occupier, Employer and Employee hence everybody involved in the project is responsible for safety, including sub-contractors. Regulatory action following an incident or breach of WSHO, 2009 will be subject to all responsible parties relevant to the project i.e. from sub-contractor all the way up to main contractor and Principal.

This is not a matter of blame. The company as the employer and/or occupier has a legal obligation to ensure compliance to WSHO, 2009 and provide a workplace that is safe for all its employees and other persons affected by its activities. If SHENA conducts an investigation the guilty party will be determined by what failure or breach of law and regulation is committed by whom, leading to appropriate legal action(s). It should be reiterated that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is the last line of defense and the least effective control that will not stop the incident from happening. At the end of the day, the company is still responsible for the employee's safety.

Typical findings based on regulatory enforcement activities include unsafe working at height practices, unsafe scaffolding conditions and use, lack of PPE and lack of safety documentation.

In principle such incidents would be classified as non-work related. However, the Occupier/ Employer is responsible for conducting thorough investigations to determine the root causes and contributing factors to the incidents. Incidences such as these may be treated on a case-by-case basis and it is recommended for the Occupier / Employer to notify the incidents to the Department of Labour as they have specific provisions for work hours and welfare of workers.