24. RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIFFERENT WORKPLACE PARTIES FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
Employee
The employee has been contracted to perform work based
on the employment contract under the employer’s leadership
and direction.
Responsibility and duties:
The employee is responsible that he is not endangering himself or
his colleagues or causing health risks.
The employee must follow the Occupational Safety and Health Act,
any orders given based on this act, and general regulations concerning
occupational safety.
The employee is required to follow the given safety instructions and
regulations and to use personal protective equipment that is meant
to prevent accident or health risk.
The employee needs to perform his work with necessary caution.
The employee must immediately report to his supervisor any equipment
or tools operated by employee that are damaged or faulty and causing
danger. If possible, the danger should be eliminated before making
the report.
The employee has no right to remove or switch off safety guards, or remove
any warning signs and instructions labels unless there is a specific reason
to do so.
The employee must inform the supervisor about defects and damages
in his personal protection equipment.
The employee cannot subject other employees to workplace harassment
and to any inappropriate treatment at the workplace which causes danger
or risks to their safety or health.
Employee’s right to refrain from work
(Occupational Safety and Health Act
738/2002 23 §)
If the work causes a serious risk to an employee’s
own and other employee’s life or health,
the employee has the right to refrain from
such work.
The employer or his representative shall be
informed of the employee refraining from the
work as soon as possible. The right to refrain
from work continues to exist until the employer
has eliminated the risk factors or in some
other way ensures that the work can be done
safely.
Refraining from work shall not restrict working
on larger scale than what is necessary for
health and safety. When refraining from work,
it must be ensured that the danger that may
be caused by this action is as low as possible.
If an employee, in accordance with this section,
refrains from work, he or she shall not
be liable to compensate for losses caused by
this action.
113