Can staff refuse to work on health and safety grounds?

If your company’s workplace poses a risk to staff safety of mental health, can they refuse to work there?

The Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA) states that it is unlawful to subject an employee to any disadvantage or dismiss them for refusing to work when they reasonably believe that they are facing a serious and immediate danger.

Workers are entitled to remain away from the workplace if, in their opinion, circumstances represent a real risk of serious and imminent danger which they could not be expected to avert.

Under s.100 ERA, any dismissal in these circumstances will automatically be considered unfair.  Any employee can make a claim regardless of their length of employment.

In most cases, mental health will more likely result in sickness absence than it will cause “serious and imminent danger” in the workplace.

However, each situation has different complexities such as the reasonableness of the worker’s belief, the extent and avoid ability of the problem, and the degree to which the employer complied with official guidance.

Being proactive and implementing a robust mental health policy and fostering an open workplace will help in avoiding an employee claiming that their mental health is posing serious and immediate danger.

We suggest that companies carry out an audit on their management system to identify any gaps which may lead to an employee declining to work on the grounds of poor health and safety practices.

For more information on health and safety, contact our expert team today.