A duty imposed on a person to ensure health and safety requires the person to –
(a) to eliminate risks to health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable; and
(b) if it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate risks to health and safety, to minimise those risks so far as is reasonably practicable
duty: a moral or legal obligation; a responsibility
person: a human being regarded as an individual
health and safety: regulations and procedures intended to prevent accident or injury in workplaces or public environments.
eliminate: completely remove or get rid of (something).
so far as is reasonably practicable:
In this context, reasonably practicable means that which is, or was at a particular time, reasonably able to be done to ensure health and safety, taking into account and weighing up all relevant matters including:
- (a) the likelihood of the hazard or the risk concerned occurring
- (b) the degree of harm that might result from the hazard or the risk
- (c) what the person concerned knows, or ought reasonably to know, about the hazard or risk, and ways of eliminating or minimising the risk
- (d) the availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or minimise the risk, and
- (e) after assessing the extent of the risk and the available ways of eliminating or minimising the risk, the cost associated with available ways of eliminating or minimising the risk, including whether the cost is grossly disproportionate to the risk.
minimise: reduce (something, especially something undesirable) to the smallest possible amount or degree.