Richard

Contract law is a bit of a specialist area. That said, my understanding is that there are implied terms of a (employment) contract which are legally accepted. For example, in law it is established that the employer owes a duty of care, inter alia, to his employee. Therefore the implied terms of an employment contract will include this duty, whether it written or not. Hence there is no need to include it explicitly in the contract.

Of course, the same duty is enshrined in criminal law via HSWA s2(1) and could lead to a prosecution if it was breached. Again, no need to include the obvious in an employment contract.

Ray

Yes, I see no reason why not. Basically I contract could include anything you like, whether it is fair and legally binding is a completely different matter. I would think that a reference to the H&S Policy should also include the employee getting a copy or at least being advised where and how to access it.

Technically a COE [nor anything else] does not need within it an area that says that U the employee must comply with the law as the law is the law and that is it; compliance is required irrespective - However in practice this is an area that can be /is put in as already noted herein