Occupational Safety and Health Act

This Act may be cited as the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Defines "any plant" as equipment designed for use or operation by persons at a workplace.

The Act applies to all workplaces where any person is at work, whether temporarily or permanently; it also includes provisions to secure the safety, health and welfare of persons at work and to protect others from risks arising from work activities.

The Director, in consultation with the Council, shall approve and issue codes of practice for guidance, shall from time to time revise them, may withdraw them, and must publish a notice in the Gazette when a code is approved, issued or withdrawn.

Failure to follow an approved code of practice does not by itself make a person liable to civil or criminal proceedings; but where in criminal proceedings an offence is alleged based on contravening a code, evidence of relevant code provisions is admissible and the court must treat a proved failure to observe such a relevant provision as proving the matter unless the court is satisfied compliance was otherwise shown.

Employers must not deduct from employees’ pay or impose charges for anything done or provided under this Act or its regulations.

Occupiers must arrange an annual safety and health audit by a safety and health advisor, keep the audit report available for inspection, and failure to comply is an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment or both.

Self-employed persons must take precautions for safety and health, use safe systems and protective equipment, comply with safety rules, report imminent dangers they cannot correct and report work-related incidents; contravention is an offence.

Employees must follow a set of safety and health duties at work (cooperate with employer, use protective equipment, comply with safety instructions, report hazards and accidents).

Employees must report situations they reasonably believe present imminent or serious danger to safety or health to their immediate supervisor; occupiers must not require employees to return to workplaces with continuing imminent or serious danger until remedial action is taken; employees who leave such workplaces are protected from dismissal, discrimination or disadvantage; failure to perform duties under this section is an offence.

It is an offence for any person to wilfully interfere with or misuse things provided for safety, health and welfare under this Act; offenders face a fine up to one hundred thousand shillings, imprisonment up to three months, or both.

No person must engage in improper activity or behaviour at the workplace that could create a hazard to themselves or others.

Occupiers, employers and self-employed persons must run their undertakings to avoid exposing non-employees to risks to safety or health and must give relevant safety and health information to affected non-employees; failing a duty under this section is an offence.

Occupiers of non-domestic premises made available to non-employees must take practicable measures to ensure the premises, access and egress, and any provided plant or substance are safe and without risks to health; failure to perform such duties is an offence.

Persons in control of certain premises must prevent emissions into the atmosphere and render harmless and inoffensive any substances which may be emitted.

People who design, manufacture, import, supply, erect or install articles or substances for use at work must ensure they are safe, carry out necessary testing and research, and provide adequate information; failing to do so is an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment.

Employers and self‑employed persons must notify the area occupational safety and health officer of workplace accidents, dangerous occurrences, or occupational poisoning, with specific timelines for oral and written notices; occupiers must notify when a self‑employed person cannot; employers must record injuries and report employee accidents to occupiers/Director when appropriate; failure to notify is an offence with fines or imprisonment.

Medical practitioners must notify the Director within seven days when they believe a patient has a workplace-contracted disease in the Second Schedule; occupiers must also notify; failure by a medical practitioner is an offence punishable by a fine up to fifty thousand shillings; the Cabinet Secretary may extend application by rules.

Occupiers must ensure workplace safety, carry out risk assessments, report them to the area occupational safety and health officer, stop operations in imminent danger, and register workplaces unless excepted.

Persons on whom duties are imposed must prepare and, as appropriate, revise a written safety and health policy statement and bring it and any revision to the notice of all their employees; the Cabinet Secretary may make regulations about contents; failure to perform an imposed duty is an offence.

An occupier who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine exceeding one hundred thousand shillings or imprisonment not exceeding three months or both; the court may order damages or reinstatement.

Safety and health committees are required when there are twenty or more employees or when the Director directs; the Cabinet Secretary may make regulations about committees; an occupier must not penalise an employee for acting in furtherance of this section; an occupier who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence.

Establishes a Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services and assigns duties including administration of the Act, consultations on standards, strategic planning, promotion, information dissemination, and powers such as training, approval of training institutions after consultation, revocation of certificates, and various examinations and audits.

Section 24 assigns the Director responsibilities to conduct and publish research, develop criteria (including for toxic substances and exposure levels), explore new technology-related problems, and establish the Occupational Safety and Health Institute; the Director may, with Cabinet Secretary approval, prescribe regulations requiring employers to monitor and report employee exposure and establish medical examination programmes.

The Director must develop and maintain a programme to collect, compile and analyze occupational safety and health statistics.

The section provides for appointment of various occupational safety and health officers; it bars appointment of a person unless they hold a specified degree; it requires notice of appointment to be published in the Gazette; and it requires the Director to issue every appointed officer a certificate of authorization.

Section 27 sets out the functions of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, assigning the Council duties to develop policy, make legislative proposals, promote best practices, establish a safety culture, review laws and standards, analyse statistics, form committees, consider recommendations, investigate workplace safety matters and perform functions assigned by the Cabinet Secretary; the Director may advise the Council on standards and guidance.

The Council consists of a Chairperson and members listed in subsection (2) who are appointed by the Cabinet Secretary by notice in the Gazette; the Chairperson must have demonstrated ability in OSH; the Cabinet Secretary may consider practical experience when appointing; the Council may co-opt experts who cannot vote; three appointed expert members must not be public officers; allowances set by Cabinet Secretary with National Treasury approval.

The Council must prepare and give to the Cabinet Secretary an annual report on its operations within three months after the end of each financial year.

The Director may from time to time form a technical advisory committee; that committee must include the Director as Chairperson and at least five other members from relevant occupational safety and health disciplines.

Section 31 assigns functions to the technical advisory committee (approving persons and institutions, approving training syllabi, ensuring professional ethics, formulating and publishing standards, promoting education and training, collecting and disseminating occupational safety and health information, and carrying out other related activities) and requires the Cabinet Secretary, with approval of the National Treasury, to determine the committee members' allowances.

Section 32 grants occupational safety and health officers a range of inspection powers (entry, measurement, sampling, photographing, summoning, requiring documents and examinations) and requires occupiers to furnish necessary means; obstruction of an officer is an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment.

An occupational safety and health officer may prosecute, conduct or defend proceedings under the Act; it is not an objection to the officer’s competency to give evidence in prosecutions that he brought or conducted the prosecution.

An occupational safety and health officer may take workplace substance samples for analysis after informing the occupier or a responsible person; parts of the sample may be delivered, retained, or submitted; either party in proceedings may call the analyst as a witness; publishing analysis results is prohibited except for prosecutions and is punishable by fine or imprisonment.

An occupational safety and health officer may seize and render harmless any article or substance found in premises if he reasonably believes it poses imminent danger; the officer must, if practicable, take and give a marked sample and must give signed reports to responsible persons and to the owner unless the finder is the owner.

Section 36, titled "Improvement notices", refers to a section about a party contravening any of the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder.

Occupational safety and health officers may issue prohibition notices and take enforcement measures; employers must inform workplace health and safety committees; employees keep wages for work not done due to a prohibition notice; no person may remove enforcement seals or barricades.

Persons issued improvement or prohibition notices must comply even if they have lodged an appeal; aggrieved persons may appeal to the Director within fourteen days, and the Director may confirm, revoke or vary the notice; decisions by the Director may be appealed to a Cabinet Secretary-appointed appeal committee within fourteen days.

Section 39 defines “a notice” (an improvement or prohibition notice) and sets rules for such notices: officers must consult the fire authority before serving notices that affect means of escape for fire; officers may withdraw a notice before the end of its specified period or may extend that period when no appeal is pending; persons served a notice are to be afforded a choice of ways to remedy the contravention; notices must not require measures more onerous than building rules.

Occupational safety and health officers must not disclose the source of complaints or tell owners/occupiers that an inspection resulted from a complaint, except as allowed in subsection (1).

Occupational safety and health officers are exempt from personal liability for actions done bona fide in the execution of their functions, powers or duties under the Act.

Safety and health advisors must be issued an annual certificate by the Director on payment of the prescribed fee; making false or materially deficient reports or failing to send required copies, and contravening subsection (2), are offences punishable by fines up to 100,000 shillings or imprisonment up to three months (or both).

Director must set safety and health requirements for handling and transporting chemicals; employers must not require manual handling likely to cause injury; suppliers must ensure safe packaging and handling; employers must have systems to collect and dispose of chemical waste.

Manufacturers, importers, suppliers or distributors must provide material safety data sheets; suppliers must provide revised labels and data sheets when new safety information appears; employers must keep data sheets available at the workplace.

Employers and suppliers must ensure hazardous chemicals are identified, labelled or marked, accompanied by safety information, and that employers provide chemical safety data sheets, maintain records and obtain missing information from suppliers; using unlabelled or undocumented chemicals is an offence.

Hazardous chemicals and substances are classified according to their characteristics and properties, including toxicity, chemical and physical properties, corrosive and irritant, allergenic, sensitising, carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic effects, and effects on reproductive systems.

adequate and readily accessible means for drenching with water or any other appropriate substance;

The Cabinet Secretary may, after consultation with the Council, establish or adopt exposure limits on hazardous substances in the workplace to protect persons employed.

Employers must take practicable measures to eliminate or control harmful sound energy and to secure safety from harmful vibration in workplaces.

A medical practitioner may recommend redeployment when work involves exposure to air pollution, noise, vibration or other adverse working conditions and the practitioner considers the employee cannot continue working in that environment.

The Director must keep a register of workplaces and enter particulars about every workplace required to be registered under this Act.

Before occupying or using premises as a workplace, a person must apply for registration; the Director must satisfy himself of suitability and, on payment of a prescribed fee, register and issue a certificate; occupying without a certificate is an offence with specified fines and imprisonment; occupiers must notify the Director of proposed changes; appeals against Director decisions lie to an appeal committee within 14 days; some workplaces and registrations/fees may be specified or exempted; small workplaces (under 100 employees) are exempt for first 12 months; Cabinet Secretary may exempt premises from that exemption.

Section 45. Exceptions to registration Section 45(1) The Cabinet Secretary may, after consultation with the Council, by notice in the Gazette , except some classes of workplaces from the requirements of section 44 . Section 45(2) The

The Cabinet Secretary must appoint appeal committees; committees are to include a Chairperson and two experienced persons; members may be paid an allowance set by the Cabinet Secretary with National Treasury approval; committees may confirm, revoke or vary Director decisions and their decisions are final; the committee must communicate its decision to the appellant within fourteen days.

Section 47 sets out required cleanliness measures for workrooms, floors, benches, staircases and passages and states that an occupier who contravenes the section commits an offence.

Occupiers must prevent overcrowding at workplaces so that employees are not at risk to their health; workplaces must provide minimum space and air (minimum ten cubic metres per person, excluding space over 4.5 metres and treating galleries as separate rooms); workrooms must be at least three metres high unless the Director certifies an exemption in writing; contravention is an offence.

Occupiers must ensure adequate ventilation in each workroom by circulating fresh air; the Cabinet Secretary may make rules prescribing ventilation standards; contravention by an occupier is an offence.

An occupier must ensure sufficient and suitable lighting (natural or artificial) in all parts of the workplace where people work or pass.

If a process makes the floor so wet that the wet can be removed by drainage, effective means must be provided and maintained to drain the wet.

The Cabinet Secretary may make rules to determine what constitutes sufficient and suitable sanitary conveniences for workplaces.

Local authorities must enforce the provisions of section 52 (and rules made under it) in areas the Cabinet Secretary directs by Gazette notice.

An occupational safety and health officer must give written notice to the local authority when they find a sanitary defect in a workplace that the local authority can deal with.

Plant, machinery and equipment must only be used for the work they are designed for and must be operated by a competent person.

Every flywheel directly connected to any prime mover and every moving part of any prime mover (except as in subsection (3)) shall be securely fenced; the head and tailrace of every water wheel and water turbine shall be securely fenced; and every part of an electric generator, motor and rotary converter, and every flywheel directly connected thereto, shall be securely fenced.

The Director may, by written certificate and subject to conditions, exempt from complying with subsections (2), (3), (4) and (5) where satisfied compliance is unnecessary or impracticable.

Dangerous parts of machinery (other than prime movers and transmission machinery) must be fenced; if a fixed guard cannot secure safety, a device that automatically prevents the operator from coming into contact with the part satisfies the requirement; any part of a stock-bar projecting beyond the head-stock of a lathe must be fenced.

A person described as 'his' must be responsible for the safe condition of tools and equipment used by his employees, including tools the employees may furnish.

Fencing or other safeguards provided under this Part must be of substantial construction, kept constantly maintained and kept in position while the parts required to be fenced or safeguarded are in motion or in use.

Machinery must be effectively guarded or encased; importers/manufacturers/designers/suppliers must provide installation, use, maintenance and disposal information and hazard controls; selling non-compliant mechanically driven machines for workplace use in Kenya is an offence punishable by a fine up to two hundred thousand shillings.

Occupiers must take all practicable steps to ensure workers are not in the space between a traversing part of a self-acting spinning mule and any fixed part towards which it moves on the inward run, except when the machine is stopped on the outward run; the section also prohibits any traversing part or material carried on it from running within fifty centimetres of any fixed structure over which persons may pass.

Sets safety, construction and maintenance requirements for hoists and lifts, requires regular examinations and reporting, mandates protective enclosures and gated interlocks, prescribes load marking and forbids overloading, and enables area officers to issue notices following examinations.

Sets safety and inspection requirements for chains, ropes and lifting tackle and gives the Director powers to permit longer inspection intervals, approve persons for examination/testing, and to exempt classes by Gazette notice.

Section 65 sets safety and maintenance requirements for lifting machines, requires approval of examiners by the Director, restricts operation to trained certificate holders (with supervised training exceptions), and bars employing persons appearing under 18 to operate or signal.

A register containing the particulars set out in the Sixth Schedule must be kept in every workplace for all chains, ropes or lifting tackle (except fibre rope slings) and for all lifting machines to which sections 64 and 65 apply.

Steam boilers and their fittings must be properly constructed, maintained, fitted with specified safety devices, inspected by an approved person at least annually (with a possible extension up to fifteen months), and certain reporting and remedial procedures apply; failure by the examiner to comply is an offence with fines or imprisonment.

The section sets safety, construction, maintenance, equipment, examination and certification requirements for steam receivers and steam containers, defines related terms, and prohibits use of non‑compliant equipment in workplaces.

Air receivers must be properly marked, constructed, fitted with safety devices (safety valve, pressure gauge, reducing valve if needed), provided with draining and access openings, and be maintained; no person may use an air receiver that does not meet these standards.

Sets construction, testing, marking and record-keeping requirements for cylinders for compressed, liquefied and dissolved gases.

The occupier of a workplace where a refrigeration plant (as described in subsection (1)) is used must have an approved person examine, test and certify the entire plant at least once every twelve months.

Any person may request an approved person to carry out tests and examinations of equipment or plant (to obtain specified certificates) on payment of the prescribed fee.

Fixed vessels, structures, sumps or pits with edges under one metre that contain scalding, corrosive or poisonous liquids must be securely covered or fenced; plants so described must display a clear warning notice and be marked or have a nearby conspicuous notice if marking is impracticable.

Storage of goods, articles or substances must be carried out so stacks are stable and not liable to collapse, must not obstruct lighting, ventilation, passageways, machines, sprinkler systems or access to fire extinguishing equipment, and must be on firm foundations not liable to overload any floor; and goods must not be stored or stacked against a wall or partition unless that wall or partition is strong enough to withstand the pressure.

Every ladder supplied for use in a workplace must be well-constructed, made of sound material, strong enough, suitable for its purpose and properly maintained; additional rules require ladders to be fixed or supervised to prevent slipping, stand on firm level footing (unless suspended), be secured to prevent swaying, be properly supported on each side, extend at least one metre above landing where no handhold exists (or to the greatest practicable height), and provide sufficient space at each rung for foothold; folding stepladders are exempt from subsection (2) if they have a level, firm footing and are used fully open with spreaders locked.

Employers must adapt workstations, equipment and tasks to fit employees (including protection against mental strain); manufacturers/importers/suppliers must ensure equipment meets prescribed safety and health standards and provide hazard information; employers must not require manual handling of loads likely to cause injury.

Requirements for safe workplace access and place of employment including sound, maintained floors/stairs/passages/gangways; fenced floor openings; practicable safe access; precautions (e.g., warning signs) against mobile plants and falling/ejected objects; handrails and guards on staircases; clear space around machines; fall protections over three metres; fenced hoisting openings with handholds; and exit doors not locked from inside while persons are present.

Prohibits persons from smoking or carrying flame-producing articles where explosive, highly flammable or highly combustible substances are manufactured, used, handled or stored; requires the occupier to take practicable steps (including signage) to ensure compliance.

Rules for confined spaces: persons entering must wear specified safety equipment unless a suitable test shows no dangerous fumes; a sufficient number of employed persons must be trained in resuscitation and apparatus use; no one may enter without written authorization by the occupier; no one may work in a confined space unless trained and informed of hazards.

Requires taking practicable steps to prevent or limit explosions or ignition from explosive or inflammable dust, liquids, gases or vapours in plant and workrooms; and allows the Director to exempt parts of a plant from subsection (3) requirements by written certificate with conditions where compliance is unnecessary or impracticable.

Occupiers of workplaces must ensure employees know escape routes and fire routines.

Occupiers of workplaces must design, test and implement evacuation and emergency procedures, stop operations and evacuate when there is imminent danger, provide emergency measures including first aid where necessary, and ensure staff know escape routes and routines for fire or other emergencies.

Every occupier must provide and maintain an adequate supply of wholesome drinking water at suitable, accessible points for all persons employed.

Occupiers must provide and maintain adequate and suitable washing facilities for persons employed; facilities must be accessible and kept clean and orderly. The Director may exempt workplaces by written certificate in specified circumstances. The Cabinet Secretary may prescribe standards by rules.

An occupier must provide and maintain adequate, suitable accommodation for clothing not worn during working hours for persons employed.

Occupiers must provide and maintain suitable seating facilities for employees who work standing, to allow them to rest when opportunities occur during their employment.

Every occupier must provide and maintain a readily accessible first-aid box or cupboard of the prescribed standard.

No person shall be permitted to partake of food or drink where a poisonous or otherwise injurious substance is used so as to give rise to any dust or fume.

Employers must provide and maintain suitable protective clothing and appliances for employees exposed to wet or injurious or offensive substances; the Director must register safety consultants to assess suitability and effectiveness.

Employers must provide suitable eye protection (goggles or screens) for workers in specified processes and must prevent non-welding employees from being exposed to electric arc flash where arc welding is carried out.

Requires medical examinations and surveillance in certain industrial situations; employers must pay for and ensure examinations without loss of earnings; employees and former employees must undergo examinations; contravention is an offence with fines or imprisonment.

Employers must issue a written permit to work to any employee likely to be exposed to hazardous work processes or hazardous working environments.

Employers must not allow anyone who appears under eighteen to be employed or to perform work likely to harm their safety or health.

Apprentices and indentured learners must not attend to machinery, equipment, tools, plant or processes unless adequate supervision and protection against hazardous work conditions and environment is provided and maintained.

Occupiers must ensure that external employees and contractors engaged at their workplace receive appropriate safety and emergency instructions.

When part of a building is let off as a separate workplace, the provisions of this Act apply to that part of the building used for the purposes of the workplace.

If a steam boiler is first used in premises that are not part of a workplace, the occupier must, within one month of first use, send the Director a written notice with the particulars set out in the Ninth Schedule.

If a hoist or lift is used in premises that are not part of a workplace, the occupier must, within one month after first use, send the Director a written notice of the address where it is used; the premises are treated as a workplace and the person having actual use or occupation is treated as the occupier for the Act.

Occupiers or owners of vessels or platforms over or in water must take adequate measures to protect the safety and health of persons employed on them and must at all times comply with this Act.

Section 108 sets out when specific persons (occupiers, owners, employees, company officers) are to be treated as having committed offences arising from contraventions of the Act, including situations of employer/owner liability, special exceptions, multiple contraventions per employee, and officer liability where an offence by a company was consented to, connived at, or facilitated by neglect.

Persons convicted of an offence under this Act for which no express penalty is provided are liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for up to three months or to both; continued contraventions after conviction attract a further daily fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings, subject to section 110.

If an occupier or owner of a workplace is convicted under the Act, the court may order them to remedy the contravention within a specified time; compliance during that time prevents liability, but failure to comply after the time may incur a fine of up to ten thousand shillings per day.

The occupier or owner shall not be liable to a penalty under this section unless the injury was caused directly by the contravention.

Creates an offence relating to forging or counterfeiting any certificate required by, under or for the purposes of the Act.

If the act or default for which an occupier or owner is liable is actually done by an agent, servant, worker or other person, that person is treated as having committed the offence and is liable to the same penalty as the occupier or owner.

Occupiers or owners may be exempt from liability if they used all due diligence and the offence was committed by another person without their knowledge, connivance or wilful default; the prosecution has the right to cross-examine them and their witnesses and call rebutting evidence.

If under this Act a person is substituted for the occupier or owner of a workplace, any order, summons, notice or proceeding required or authorized to be served on or taken in relation to the occupier or owner must instead be served on or taken in relation to that substituted person.

Assigns burden of proof to the person alleging that premises are not a workplace and states that offences under the Act are prosecuted and fines recovered in a magistrate’s court; offences continuing due to failure to act remain until the required act is done.

If a person is found in a workplace while work is going on (except during meal or rest intervals) they are presumed to have been employed there until proven otherwise; this does not apply where the workers are members of the same family dwelling there. Entries in required registers made by the occupier are admissible as evidence against them, and failure to make required entries is admissible as evidence that the provision was not observed.

Sets permitted methods for service of documents: delivering to a person, leaving at or sending by registered post to their residence or place of business; delivering to a partner or firm's office for firms; delivering to owner/occupier of a workplace or to the manager/foreman/other responsible person; and permits addressing a document to "the occupier" at a workplace postal address.

If an agreement prevents the owner or occupier from making necessary alterations to comply with the Act, the owner or occupier may apply to a judge in chambers to set aside or modify the agreement; the judge may, after hearing parties and witnesses, make such an order as he considers just and equitable.

If premises let as a workplace need alterations to comply with the Act and the owner or occupier disputes who should pay, the owner or occupier may apply to a judge in chambers to apportion the alteration expenses.

The occupier of a workplace must post the prescribed abstract of the Act, notices of the Director's address and area officer, printed copies of current rules or their abstracts, danger/precaution notices, and any other notices required by the Act in the workplace.

Occupiers must send extracts from the general register to an occupational safety and health officer when required; contravention is an offence.

Registers and records kept under the Act must be preserved and kept available for inspection by any occupational safety and health officer for at least three years (or such other period as may be prescribed) after the date of the last entry.

Occupiers of workplaces must, when required by an order in the Gazette, send to the Director correct returns showing the number of persons employed and other particulars; the Director may arrange consolidation of those returns with other relevant returns.

Plans for erecting, converting, altering or extending a workplace must be approved by the Director; the Director must issue a certificate of approval if satisfied, or refuse and state reasons in writing if not satisfied.

Parliament must appropriate money to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Fund; levies are to be paid into the Fund for each registered workplace; the Cabinet Secretary may make levy orders and rules for the Fund; and the Director must administer the Fund in consultation with the Council.

Section 127 authorises the making of safety and health regulations covering many workplace matters and empowers the Cabinet Secretary to make rules where certain workplace risks are present.

The Cabinet Secretary may order formal investigations into workplace accidents or disease, appoint tribunals and assessors; the tribunal has statutory powers to enter premises, summon witnesses, require documents and administer oaths, must report to the Cabinet Secretary, and non‑compliance is an offence punishable by fines.

The Factories and Other Places of Work Act is repealed, subject to subsection (2); prior acts and subsidiary legislation made under the repealed Act are deemed to have been made under this Act or remain in force if not inconsistent; this Act prevails over other occupational safety and health laws in case of conflict.