Roles, Responsibilities, and Expectations: Building a Safer Workplace Together
When it comes to health and safety, it’s easy to focus on policies, paperwork, and procedures. But at its heart, good health and safety management is about people — understanding who does what, why it matters, and how everyone contributes to a safer, more productive workplace.
Why clarity matters
Unclear roles and responsibilities are one of the most common root causes behind safety issues. When people assume “someone else” will deal with it, small risks can grow into major problems. By defining who is responsible for which aspects of health and safety, you create ownership, accountability, and — just as importantly — confidence across your team.
Key roles and what they mean
Employers and senior managers – Hold overall responsibility for ensuring health and safety arrangements are in place. They must provide safe systems of work, suitable training, and the resources to maintain safety standards.
Supervisors and team leaders – Act as the link between management and the workforce. They must ensure that procedures are followed day to day, that risks are controlled, and that team members are supported in raising concerns.
Employees – Everyone has a legal duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others affected by their actions. This includes following instructions, reporting hazards, and participating in training.
Health and Safety professionals/consultants – Provide advice, support, and training to ensure compliance and continual improvement, helping organisations move from “box-ticking” to a proactive, safety-first culture.
Setting expectations
Roles alone are not enough — expectations need to be clearly communicated. Regular toolbox talks, role-specific training, and open communication channels make it clear that health and safety is not just a compliance exercise, but a shared value.
Consistency is key. When people see that safety standards are applied fairly and visibly, engagement improves, and “doing the right thing” becomes the norm rather than the exception.
Recently, we worked with a medium-sized construction firm that was struggling with unclear safety responsibilities. Site supervisors were unsure where their role ended and the health and safety manager’s began. After reviewing their structure, we developed a simple “Roles and Responsibilities” matrix and ran short briefing sessions with each team.
Within weeks, near-miss reporting increased (a good sign of engagement), and supervisors began taking greater ownership of safety meetings. Six months later, the company had reduced minor incidents by 35%, and — perhaps more importantly — the workforce reported feeling more confident and supported in managing risks.
You should also consider some of the relevant Employment Law requirements for HR as some of these may overlap and require risk assessments such as Worker Protection Act that requires you to create a sexual harassment risk assessment.
Health and safety is everyone’s job, but not everyone’s job is the same. When roles, responsibilities, and expectations are clear — and backed by visible leadership and open communication — safety becomes part of the culture, not just the compliance.
If you’d like help clarifying health and safety roles within your organisation or want to strengthen your team’s understanding of their responsibilities, I’d be happy to chat. Let’s make clarity the cornerstone of your safety success.
Please contact either Leanne at leanne.kelly@influntialmg.com or Jane at jane.patching@influentialmg.com
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