We are landlords of both commercial and residential properties and have been advised that we are required to have a Health And Safety Policy And Plan.
Is that correct? If so, what should the policy/plan cover?
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (“Act”) commercial landlords and (at times) residential landlords are Persons Conducting a Business or
Undertaking (“PCBU”) and have duties under the Act. That means you have a responsibility to ensure that people working on the premises are healthy
and safe. The Act does not specify how it should be complied with, but one of the best ways to ensure you are discharging your duties is to have
a Health and Safety Policy and Plan.
For a commercial landlord, the policy and plan should be fairly comprehensive and it may be worthwhile engaging a specialist consultant to assist you.
The policy will be a big picture document setting out your goals and desire to provide healthy and safe premises for the people working there.
The plan should be more specific and contain actual procedures for implementing the policy, such as how hazards are to be dealt with when they
arise and a mechanism for receiving notifications and feedback from tenants.
There should also be a commitment in the documents to ongoing updates...
