IV. Duty of care processes

Figure 3: Explanation of the four duties

Duty of Information

An employer’s duty to inform workers of any unusual risks they may not be aware of and the steps employees must take to avoid them. This includes understanding the risks employees are exposed to and providing staff the opportunity to ask competent, experienced individuals questions.

Duty of Prevention

An employer’s duty to anticipate risks and act accordingly through the provision of guidelines to mitigate the likelihood and impact of these risks.

Duty of Care

Duty of Monitoring

An employer’s duty to regularly monitor compliance with guidelines, at both an individual and systemic level.

Duty of Intervention

An employer’s duty to intervene in response to incidents, complaints, and non-compliance in accordance with risk management processes. This includes intervening when it comes to partnership arrangements.

IV. Duty of care processes

As a next step, the research led to the identification of key processes that support meeting each respective duty. One of the primary starting points to identify the key duty of care processes was using examples of good practice within the literature. For example, the seven key principles of duty of care that the NRC developed in the aftermath of the Dennis v NRC court case13 :  Security risk assessments;  Mitigation and contingency measures;  Informed consent, including responsibilities;  Line management competency, including staff induction and training;  Systems function as intended: insurance and redress;  Access to expertise;  Control and monitoring measures.

Using the elements above and others identified through the literature review, this study asked survey respondents to identify the top five activities respondents perceived as most important for fulfilling duty of care. See figure 4 for the priority ranking that emerged.

13 Cardona (2017).

Figure 4: Duty of care importance

Duty of care activities ranked by importance

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Respondents were then asked to highlight which activities from this list were essential, desirable or not part of duty of care. The results reflected the prioritisation established in the ranking above.14 Survey respondents were also asked to highlight processes that they felt were not addressed in the list of elements shared above. Key informant interviews helped to clarify further what key actions organisations undertake to ensure they meet their duty of care obligations. On the basis of the information gathered, this study has identified key processes that support organisations in meeting the four foundational duties presented previously. See figure 5 for a summary of each key process identified.

14 See Annex 2 for additional information on the survey results.