NOTIFICATION OF MINISTRY OF LABOUR & SOCIAL WELFARE
Re: Working Safety of Employees
By virtue of the provisions of Clause 2 (7) and Clause 14 of Announcement of the Revolutionary Party No. 103, dated 16th March B.E. 2515, the Ministry of Labour & Social Welfare hereby prescribe welfare relating to health and safety of the employees, as follows:
Clause 1. This Notification is called "Notification of Ministry of Labour & Social Welfare; Re: Working Safety of Employees".
Clause 2. This Notification shall be enforced at the expiration of ninety days from the date of publication in Government Gazette onwards.
Clause 3. Notification of Ministry of Interior, Re: Working Safety of Employee, dated 6th May B.E. 2528, is hereby canceled.
Clause 4. This Notification shall be enforced with the employer who operates the followings:
(1) Mining, stone quarry, petroleum or petro-chemical.
(2) Make, produce, pack, repair, maintain, store, improve, finish, modify, convert, or destroy material or property, including ship building, generate, convert and distribute electricity or other energy,
(3) Construct, add, install, repair, maintain, modify or demolish, building, airport, railway, tramway, port, dock, pier, waterway, road, dam, tunnel, bridge, dam, water pipe, telegram, telephone, electricity, gas or water supply or other construction, including preparation or laying foundation for the construction.
(4) Carriage passengers or goods by land, water, air and including carriage for unloading the goods.
(5) Service station or distribute fuel or gas.
(6) Other business as prescribed by the Ministry of Labour & Social Welfare.
Clause 5. This Notification is not enforced to:
(1) Central government.
(2) Provincial government.
(3) Local government.
(4) Other business as prescribed by the Ministry of Labour & Social Welfare.
Clause 6. In this Notification:
"Employer" means the person who agrees to accept the employees for employment by paying wages or agreeing to accept benefit from other person, and means to include the person assigned to act on behalf of the Employer. In case the employer is a juristic person it means to include the person acting for the juristic person and person assigned by the authorized person to act for the juristic person.
In case the operator has employed by means of contract the labour by assigning any person as sub-contractor to supervise the work and responsible for the payment of wages to the employees, or assigned any person to act as procurer of employees to work, which is not the business of recruitment, which that work is part of whole of the production process or business under the responsibility of the operator, and which shall be considered that the operator is the employer of said employees.
"Employees" means persons who work for the employer by receiving wage or accepting benefit for other person, but not including the employee who performs household work which does not include business operation.
"Wage" means money or money and things which the employer pays the employee in return for the work during the normal working time, or pays by calculating according to result of work which the employee has done, and means to include money and things paid on the holiday which the employee has not carried out the work and on the day of leave. This is no matter it is specified, calculated or paid in any way and no matter what it is called.
"Working Safety" means the act or working conditions free from the reason to cause danger, sickness through the work, for the worker, or disturbance due to working or relating to the work.
"Working Safety Official" means the employee whom the employer has appointed to act as working safety on the basis of work at the level of foreman, executive or professional.
"Employee at the level of operator" means the employee who performs the duty as operator.
"Employee at the level of foreman" means the employee who performs the duty as supervisor, command and order the employee to carry out the work of that unit.
"Employee at the level of executive" means the employee from the level of Department Manager up.
"Place of operation'' means the unit of work of the employer carrying out the work as a unit and there are employees working.
"Director-General" means Director-General of Department of Social Welfare and Labour Protection.
CHAPTER 1 Safety Official at the level of basic work
Clause 7. The employer having less than fifty employees shall arrange for the employee at the level of operation whom the employer has appointed as representative of the employee, under Notification of Ministry of Labour & Social Welfare; Re: Safety Committee on Bio-sanitation and working environment, dated 27th June B.E. 2538, or receive training as prescribed by the Director-General, and appoint as safety official at the level of basic work of the operation,within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date this Notification is enforced or within one hundred and eighty days from the date of appointment as representative of the employees.
Clause 8. The Safety Official at the level of basic work, shall have the following responsibility:
(1) Advise the employees in complying with the rule, regulation, order, advice or measures relating to working safety.
(2) Inspect the working conditions and report the conditions of unsafe, including to propose guideline for ratification to the employer.
(3) Report of the injury or sickness due to the work of the employees, to the employer without delay.
(4) Promote and support the activity in working safety.
(5) Perform work in safety as the safety officer at the level of foreman or the level of executive shall assign.
Clause 9. The employer shall keep the evidence of work of the safety officer at the basic level in the place of operation for the labour inspector to check, for a period of not less than two years.
CHAPTER 2 Safety Officer at the level of foreman
Clause 10. The employer shall arrange for the employee at the level of foreman to receive training as prescribed by the Director-General, and appoint him as safety officer at the level of foreman of the place of operation within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date this Notification is enforced or within one hundred and eighty days from the date of appointment as foreman.
Clause 11. The safety officer at the level of foreman shall have the following responsibility:
(1) Supervise the employee in the unit of responsibility to comply with the rule, regulation, order or measures of safety at work.
(2) Instruct the correct method of operation to the employees in the unit of responsibility so that there is working safety.
(3) Inspect the working conditions, machinery, tool and equipment so that they are in the conditions of safety before starting the routine operation.
(4) Inspect the reason for the injury, sickness or disturbance due to working of the employees, together with the safety officer at the basic level or professional level, and report the total result including the proposal, to the employer, for prevention of the incident without delay.
(5) Promote and support activity in working safety.
(6) Carry out the work in safety as the safety officer at the level of the executive shall assign.
CHAPTER 3 Safety Officer at the level of the executive
Clause 12. The employer shall arrange for the employee at the level of executive to receive training as prescribed by the Director-General, and appoint him as safety officer at the level of executive of the place of operation within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date this Notification is enforced or within one hundred and eighty days from the date of appointment as executive.
In case there no employee at the executive level, the employer shall receive training under paragraph one.
Clause 13. The safety officer at the level of executive shall have the following responsibility:
(1) Supervise the safety officers at basic level, foreman level and professional level to comply with the rule, regulation, order or working safety measures.
(2) Promote and support work relating to working safety.
CHAPTER 4 Safety Officer at professional level
Clause 14. The employer with more than fifty employees upwards, at the place of operation, shall appoint at least one safety officer at professional level, for full time work, within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date this Notification is enforced or within one hundred and eighty days from the date there are more than fifty employees upwards.
Clause 15. The safety officer at professional level shall have one of the following qualifications:
(1) Complete education of not below bachelor degree in bio-sanitation or equivalent or other field with curriculum concerning with safety, bio-sanitation and working environment.
(2) Complete education not below Higher Professional Certificate and been trained and tested under the course as prescribed by the Director-General, from the agency certified by the Department of Social Welfare and Labour Protection.
(3) The safety officer who received training and tested relating to working safety under Notification of Ministry of Interior, Re: Working Safety, dated 6th May 2528, and had been trained and passed the test once more as prescribed by the Director-General.
(4) Carry out duty as safety officer at basic level for at least five years, and has result of work in reducing rate of harm, by not less than ten per cent per year of the rate of harm in the past two years, and has been trained and tested under the course as prescribed by the Director-General, from the agency certified by the Department of Social Welfare and Labour Protection.
Clause 16. The safety officer at professional level shall have the following responsibility:
(1) Check and propose to the employer to comply with the law on working safety.
(2) Prepare the plan, project on working safety to be submitted to the employer.
(3) Check the performance of the place of operation so that it is according to the work plan, project or measures on working safety.
(4) Supervise that the employees comply with the rule, regulation, order or measures relating to working safety.
(5) Advise, train the employees to carry out work without cause which may be unsafe to work.
(6) Check the cause of the injury, sickness or incident that is a disturbance due to working and report the total result and proposal to the employer in order to prevent the incident without delay.
(7) Compile, analyze information, statistics and prepare report, recommendation relating to injury, sickness or disturbance due to the work of the employees.
Clause 17. The employer shall submit the report of working concerning working safety, performance of the safety officer at professional level, to the Director-General or person assigned by the Director-General according to the form prescribed by the Director-General, regularly every three calendar months. This is within a period of not more than thirty days from due date.
CHAPTER 5 Miscellaneous
Clause 18. The employer shall notify the name of the safety officer under Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, to the Director-General or person assigned by the Director-General, within thirty days from the date of appointment.
Notification under paragraph one, the employer shall produce the degree certificate or evidence of training and test of the safety officer.
In case the employer has appointed the safety officer who is qualified as under Notification of Ministry of Interior, Re: Working Safety of employee, dated 6th May B.E. 2528, and is performing duty as being qualified under Clause 15, it shall be considered that the employer has provided safety officer at professional level and having given the name under this Notification.
Clause 19. When the safety officer at the basic level, or the level of foreman, or executive or professional level shall retire, the employer shall arrange for the safety officer at the same level and notify his name to the Director-General or person assigned by the Director-General, according to the form prescribed by the Director-General within sixty days from the date the original safety officer is terminated from duty.
Clause 20. Before the new employee shall perform duty, the employer shall arrange the training so that he may know the basic and comply with the working safety bio-sanitation and working environment.
The provision of paragraph one shall apply to the case the employee is working differently from that the employee used to perform before and may cause harm.
Clause 21. In case the employer has ordered the employee to work at other place which may be risky or may be dangerous, the employer shall give necessary information on the safety of said place to the employee before carrying out the work.
Clause 22. The employer shall bear the expenses in carrying out the work under this Notification.
Notify on 31st March B.E. 2540 (sign) Mr. Chatchai Easakul (Mr. Chatchai Easakul) Minister of Labour & Social Welfare
The International Labour Organization is a United Nations specialized agency.