Duty of Care refers to the moral and legal obligations of employers to employees, contractors, volunteers and related family members in maintaining their health, safety and wellbeing.
HOW IT IMPACTS YOUR ORGANISATION
- Organisations have legal obligations to act prudently to avoid the risks of injury or exposures leading to ill health. This obligation may apply both to acts and omissions.
- Employers are responsible for building a broad culture within their organisation to address the health, safety, security and wellbeing of employees and other related collaborators to the business. In doing so, they are expected to develop and deploy appropriate risk management programmes to protect their workforce and ensure business resilience.
INCREASING COMPLEXITIES IN MANAGING DUTY OF CARE
All employees need to be protected, at home or away, and the evolving Duty of Care landscape for organisations to navigate complicates this.
An employer's Duty of Care can be based on several factors:
- Who is working - consider individual risk factors (e.g. assessment of pre-existing health conditions).
- Where they are working (e.g. different country laws and standards).
- What they are doing (e.g. working from home vs. working on a remote site, business travel vs. international assignment).
Most organisations will be operating in such a way that many of the above factors apply. This will increase the complexity of your Duty of Care to your employees. For example:
- The laws that apply to someone in their home country may change when they travel or work abroad.
- The cultural perceptions in the employees' operating country differ from your corporate policies
MEETING YOUR DUTY OF CARE RESPONSIBILITIES
RISK MITIGATION BOW TIE
Understanding complex health risks, security risks and control measures for your travelling population.Download your copy hereGLOBAL FRAMEWORK
This strategic framework guides organisations in identifying threats and hazards, and managing risks to the safety, health and security of those travelling for their work or on international assignment.Download nowDUTY OF CARE CASE STUDIES
To honour the winners of the Duty of Care Awards, we have created case studies which demonstrate their contribution to protecting the health, safety, security and wellbeing of their global workforce.Access case studies
RESOURCES
The International SOS Foundation has an extensive library of publications, whitepapers, legislative notes, case studies and other information on Duty of Care and health, safety and security risk mitigation, by country. Understand the obligations you face as an employer in each location you are operating in.Browse resourcesGLOBAL DUTY OF CARE PAPER
The International SOS Foundation carried out a global survey in partnership with KPMG and Herbert Smith Freehills, a leading international law firm, to understand the future landscape of Duty of Care and how organisations are adapting to change.Download the paper
Duty of Care Training
Delivered virtually and in-person, the International SOS Foundation has designed the world’s only IOSH certified Duty of Care training programme entitled, Safety, Health and Security for the Mobile Worker.
The training courses provide occupational safety and health practitioners with the knowledge and skills necessary to actively participate in the management of safe, healthy and security of their workforce. These activities include reviewing risk assessments, developing and implementing briefings, building organisational directives, participating as a member of an organisation’s incident management team and action planning.
About the Duty of Care Summit & Awards
For over a decade, the International SOS Foundation’s mission has been to raise awareness of the importance of Duty of Care and put it firmly onto the agenda in board discussions. In a post-pandemic, poly-crisis environment, Duty of Care has to be a focus more than ever.
Duty of Care Awards Winners
Duty of CareBusiness ContinuityCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR)Public HealthDuty of Care Awards and Summit
Duty of CareWorkforceWellbeingSafety