Notification of Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare Re: Working safety of employees

By virtue of the provisions of Clause 2 (7) and Clause 14 of Announcement of the Revolutionary Council No. 103, dated 16 March B.E. 2515, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare hereby prescribes welfare relating to health hygiene and safety of the employees as follows:

Clause 1 This Notification is called "Notification of Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare; Re: Working Safety of Employees".

Clause 2 This Notification shall come into force after the passage of ninety days from the date of its publication in Government Gazette.

Clause 3 Notification of Ministry of Interior; Re: Working Safety of Employee, dated 6 May B.E. 2528, shall be repealed.

Clause 4 This Notification shall apply to the employer who operates the following activities:

1. Mining, quarry, petroleum or petrochemical,
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, 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, sea, 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 and Social Welfare.

Clause 5 This Notification shall not apply to:

1. Central government,
2. Provincial government,
3. Local government,
4. Other business as prescribed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.

Clause 6 In this Notification:

"Employer" means the person agreeing to accept the employees for work by paying wages or agreeing to accept benefit from other person, and includes the person assigned to act on behalf of the employer. In case the employer is a juristic person, an employer means the person authorized to act on the behalf of the juristic person and includes the person entrusted by the authorized person to act of 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 agreeing to work for the employer in return for wages 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 items which the employer gives the employee in return for the work done during the normal working time of working day, or pays by calculating according to result of work which the employee has done, and included money and money and items given for holidays which the employee has not carried out the work and for leave regardless of the way it is specified or given in consideration, and the name uses.

"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 Officer" 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 upward.

"Place of business 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 Labour Protection and Welfare.

CHAPTER 1

Safety officer 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 and Social Welfare; Re: Committee of safety on bio-sanitation and working environment, dated 27 June B.E. 2538, to receive training as stated by the Director-General, and shall assign such employee as safety officer at the level of basic work of the operation, within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date this Notification comes into force or within one hundred and eighty days from the date of appointment as representative of the employees.

Clause 8 The safety officer at the level of basic work, shall have the following responsibility:

1. Advise the employees to comply with the rule, regulation, order, advice or measures relating to working safety.
2. Inspect the working conditions and report the conditions of unsafetg, including to propose guideline for ratification to the employer.
3. Report on the injury or sickness due to the work performance of the employees, to the employer without delay.
4. Promote and support the activities concerning working safety.
5. Perform duties in working safety as the safety officer at the level of foreman or the level of executive shall assign.

Clause 9 The employer shall keep the working evidence of the safety officer at the basic level in the place of business operation for the labour inspector to check, for a period of no less than two years.

CHAPTER2

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 such employee as safety officer at the level of foreman of the workplace within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date this Notification comes into force 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 under supervision to comply with the rule, regulation, order or measures of safety at work.
2. Instruct the correct method of operation to the employees under supervision so that there is working safety.
3. Inspect the working conditions, machinery, tool and equipment in order to maintain the safety condition before starting the routine operation.
4. Inspect causes of 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 activities concerning 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 staled by the Director-General, and appoint that employee as safety officer at the level of executive of the place of business operation within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date this Notification comes into force or within one hundred and eight days from the date of appointment as executive.

In case there is 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 having more than fifty employees upwards, at the place of business 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 comes into force or within one hundred and eighty days from the date the employer has 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 to 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 Labour Protection and Welfare.
3. The safety officer who received training and tested relating to working safety under Notification of Ministry of Interior; Re: Working Safety, dated 6 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 no less than ten percent 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 Labour Protection and Welfare.

Clause 16 The safety officer at professional level shall have the following responsibility:

1. Inspect 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. Inspect the performance of the workplace so that it is according to the work plan, project or measures on working safety.
4. Supervise the employees to comply with the rule, regulation, order or measures relating to working safety.
5. Advise, train the employees to carry out work without cause which lead to unsafety condition.
6. Check the cause of 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, analyse 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 6 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 19When the safety officer at the basic level, or the level of foreman, or executive or professional level shall retire, the employer shall arrange 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 start their duty, the employer shall arrange training hence 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.

	Notified on 31 March B.E. 2540
	(sign) Mr. Chatchai Easakul (Mr. Chatchai Easakul) Minister of Labour and Social Welfare

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