subject: Employees Health and Safety Responsibilities [print this page] These laws establish a simple right that previously, was relatively rare in many jobs. Simply put, as an employee, you have the right to work in a safe environment. This right isn't enshrined the world over and its a relatively recent one, though this isn't to say the principle wasn't already in place at many places of work - it has always been true that if you're injured, you're not as productive as if you're healthy. Now though, in the UK at least, the responsibility for safe working conditions has become a universal legal right.