Employers must provide an adequate and appropriate level of supervision for their workers;
Supervisors need to know what is expected from them in terms of safety and health. They need to understand the employer’s safety and health policy, where they fit in, and how the employer wants safety and health managed.
Supervisors may need training in the specific hazards of the employer’s processes and how the risks are expected to be controlled.
New, inexperienced or young people, as well as those whose first language is not that of the country, are very likely to need more supervision than others. Employers must ensure workers know how to raise concerns and supervisors are familiar with the possible problems due to unfamiliarity, inexperience and communication difficulties.
Supervisors need to ensure that workers in their charge understand risks associated with the work environment and measures to control them.
Supervisors will need to make sure the control measures to protect against risk are up to date and are being properly used, maintained and monitored.
Employers must also ensure they have arrangements in place to check the work of contractors is being done.
Effective supervision can help employers monitor the effectiveness of the training that people have received, and whether workers have the necessary capacity and competence to do the job.
