Law protects visitors against injury at workplace

Claris Ogangah

QUESTION: Whose liability is it if a visitor collapses, falls sick or gets injured at the premises of an organisation?

There are two pieces of legislations that deals with injuries at the workplace — The Work Injuries and Benefits Act of 2007 and The Occupational Safety and Health Act, also of 2007.

The Work Injuries and Benefits Act applies to workers and employees and states at its preamble that it is an Act of Parliament to provide compensation to employees for work-related injuries and diseases contracted in the course of their employment. Visitors are not covered under this Act.

The answer to your question lies within the Occupational Safety and Health Act. This is one of the new labour laws that came into being recently. The preamble states that it is an Act of Parliament to provide for the safety, health and welfare of workers and all persons lawfully present at workplaces.

The preamble clearly provides for other people at the workplace and who are not necessarily employees of the specific company where an accident occurs.

Section 3 of the Act further talks of the application of the Act and provides that:

1) This Act shall apply to all workplaces where any person is at work whether temporarily or permanently;

2) The purpose of this Act is to (a) secure the safety, health and welfare of persons at work and (b) Protect persons other than persons at work against risks to safety and health arising out of, or in connection with activities of persons at work.

Busy bodies

The section herein reiterates what the preamble states on protection of persons other than employees. However, it is important to note that the Act qualifies in the preamble that this other person who is not an employee should be in the premises lawfully.

This implies that not all visitors who get injured at the premises of a company are entitled to compensation.

As a visitor, you must have a legitimate reason for being in a company’s premises and the reasons could include attending a meeting, delivering goods or any other business that the company is fully aware of.

Busy bodies and idlers and people with no known business are clearly not offered any protection in terms of compensation and they cannot compel the company to pay their medical costs.

However, this is not to say that these persons are not entitled to safety while in the said premises and the Act actually mandates the company and its management to take all measures to ensure that people who are within the company’s premises are protected against any injury or accident.