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WHAT ARE THE DUTIES OF AN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH OFFICER IF HE IS TO CONDUCT AN INSPECTION AT A WORKPLACE ?

An occupational safety and health officer shall take all reasonable steps to notify the employer and the safety and health committee of the entry.

The occupational safety and health officer shall be produced on demand to the employer or any person in charge of a place of work a certificate of authorization issued by the Director General of the Occupational Safety and Health.

Upon concluding an inspection, an officer shall give to the employer and the safety and health committee information with respect to his observations and any action he proposes to take in relation to the place of work.

Where an officer proposes to take and remove a sample from a place of work for the purposes of analysis, he shall notify the employer and the safety and health committee and after having taken the sample he shall where possible

• divide the sample taken into as many parts as are necessary and mark and seal or mark and fasten up each part in such a manner as its nature will permit
• if required by the employer or the safety and health committee, deliver one part each to the employer and the safety and health committee
• retain one part for future comparison and
• if an analysis of the sample is to be made, submit another part to an analyst for analysis.

CAN AN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH OFFICER ENTER A PLACE OF WORK WITHOUT SEARCH WARRANT ?

Where an officer is satisfied upon information received that he has reasonable grounds for believing that, by reason of delay in obtaining a search warrant, any article or part thereof in a place of work or residential place used to commit or intended to be used to commit an offence under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 or any regulation made thereunder is likely to be removed or destroyed, he may enter the place of work or residential place without a warrant and seize or seal the article or part thereof found therein.

In exercising his powers, if it is necessary so to do, an officer may

• break open any outer or inner door of a place of work or residential place and enter thereinto
• forcibly enter the place and every part thereof
• remove by force any obstruction to entry, search, seizure and removal as he is empowered to effect and
• detain every person found in the place until the place has been searched.

However, an officer seizing any article or part thereof shall prepare a list of the things seized and forthwith, or as soon as is practicable, deliver a copy of the list signed by him to the occupier, or his agent or servant present in the premises, and if the premises are unoccupied the officer shall, whenever possible, post a list of the things seized on the premises.