General Application Regulations 2007 Coverage
What do the General Application Regulations 2007 cover in Ireland?
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299/2007) are Ireland's main set of detailed workplace safety rules made under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 [1]. They came into operation on 1 November 2007 [2]. In the current consolidated text they run to 14 Parts and 15 Schedules, covering workplaces, work equipment, PPE, manual handling, screens, electricity, work at height, physical agents, vulnerable workers, signs and first aid, explosive atmospheres, optical radiation, pressure systems, specific machinery and accident reporting.
Approach: I read the Law Reform Commission revised (consolidated) text of S.I. No. 299/2007, going through its regulations and Schedules.
Structure by Part
| Part | Subject | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Interpretation and General | Citation and commencement, definitions, revocations [2][3] |
| 2, Ch. 1 | Workplace (Regs 4-26) | Stability, ventilation, temperature, lighting, floors, doors, emergency routes and exits, fire detection and fire fighting, traffic routes, loading bays, welfare (rest rooms, sanitary facilities, changing rooms), outdoor workplaces, pregnant and disabled employees [4][5][6][7] |
| 2, Ch. 2 | Work equipment (Regs 27-61) | Use, inspection, maintenance, guards and controls; mobile equipment, roll-over protection and fork-lift trucks; lifting equipment, cranes, hoists, lifting accessories, thorough examination, competent-person reports and registers [8][9][10][11] |
| 2 (Regs 62-67) | Personal protective equipment | Provision, assessment, conditions of use, maintenance and training [12][13] |
| 2, Ch. 4 | Manual handling of loads | Lifting, pushing, pulling or carrying loads that carry a risk, particularly of back injury [14][15] |
| 2, Ch. 5 | Display screen equipment | Employer duties, plus eye tests and corrective appliances for habitual users [16][17] |
| 3 | Electricity (Regs 74-93) | Suitability of installations, shock protection, portable equipment, isolation, work on equipment made dead, competence, testing, overhead lines and underground cables [18][19][20] |
| 4 | Work at Height (Regs 94-119) | Planning and risk assessment, avoiding risk, working platforms, guard-rails, scaffolding, fall arrest and restraint, rope access, ladders, fragile surfaces, falling objects, inspection of work equipment [21][22][23] |
| 5 | Physical Agents | Noise, with exposure limit and action values (Regs 120-132), and hand-arm and whole-body vibration (Regs 133-142) [24][25][26] |
| 6 | Sensitive Risk Groups | Children (under 16) and young persons; pregnant, post-natal and breastfeeding employees; night and shift workers, defined by reference to the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 [27][28][29] |
| 7 | Safety Signs and First-Aid | Safety signs and signals; first-aid provision and first-aid rooms [30][31][32] |
| 8 | Explosive Atmospheres (Regs 167-175) | Explosion risk assessment and explosion protection document, zone classification, prevention, permits to work, coordination [33][34] |
| 9 | Artificial Optical Radiation (Regs 176-182) | Exposure assessment, reduction measures, training, health surveillance [35][36] |
| 10 | Pressure Systems (Regs 183-194) | Design, installation, marking, maintenance, examination, competent-person reports, registers, hired equipment [37][38] |
| 11 | Woodworking Machines (Regs 195-207) | Guarding, training, dust, and specific rules for circular saws, band saws, planers and spindle moulders [39][40] |
| 12 | Abrasive Wheels (Regs 208-214) | Use, speed, mounting, authorisation and training, guarding [41][42] |
| 13 | Abrasive Blasting of Surfaces (Regs 215-223) | Includes a prohibition on silica and a rule on persons under 18 [43][44] |
| 14 | Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences (Regs 224-229) | Reporting duties and record keeping [45][46] |
Schedules
- Sch. 1: requirements for work equipment, including lifting-equipment examination and testing [47]
- Sch. 2: a non-exhaustive list of PPE types by risk and sector [48]
- Sch. 3: risk factors for manual handling [49]
- Sch. 4: minimum requirements for display screen equipment [50]
- Sch. 5: what a work-equipment inspection report must contain [51]
- Sch. 6: hand-arm and whole-body vibration [52]
- Sch. 7: protection of children and young persons [53]
- Sch. 8: agents, processes and working conditions for pregnant, post-natal and breastfeeding employees [54]
- Sch. 9: safety and health signs [55]
- Sch. 10: explosive atmospheres [56]
- Sch. 11: artificial optical radiation [57]
- Sch. 12: pressure systems [58]
- Sch. 13: woodworking machines [59]
- Sch. 14: training and instruction [60]
- Sch. 15: dangerous occurrences [61]
On scope: Regulation 3 revoked a set of older sector instruments, including the Factories Act hoist and lift orders, parts of the Docks Regulations 1960, the Mines and Quarries (Electricity) Regulations 1972, and parts of the Quarries (General) and Shipbuilding Regulations [3]. Chemical agents, carcinogens and biological agents are handled in separate Irish regulations, not in this instrument. Regulation 2 cross-refers to the 2013 biological agents regulations for its definitions [1].
I can go through any Part in detail next, for example the noise action values or the accident-reporting duties.
Which accidents do I have to report to the HSA?
Under Part 14 of the General Application Regulations 2007, you report to the Authority (the HSA) any work-related death, any accident that keeps an employee out of normal work for more than 3 consecutive days, any accident in which a member of the public is taken to hospital or a medical facility for treatment, and every dangerous occurrence listed in Schedule 15 [45]. Diseases, occupational illness and mental-health impairment are not covered [62][63].
Approach: I read Regulations 224-229 and Schedule 15 in the Law Reform Commission revised text of S.I. No. 299/2007.
Reportable events (Reg. 225(1))
| Event | |
|---|---|
| (a) | An employee dies in an accident at their place of work, or while working away from their normal place of work |
| (b) | An employee can't do their normal work for more than 3 consecutive days after an accident. The day of the accident doesn't count, but non-working days do |
| (c) | An employee dies within one year as a result of such an accident |
| (d) | A person who is not at work (for example a visitor or member of the public) dies within one year of an accident related to a place of work or a work activity |
| (e) | A person who is not at work is injured in such an accident and, because of how serious the injury is, is taken from the scene to a hospital or medical facility for treatment |
| (f) | Any dangerous occurrence (see below) |
Who reports, and by when
- Who (the "responsible person"): the employer, where an employee at work is involved. In any other case, the person in control of the place of work. Where a self-employed person is killed, the owner of the place of work, or the tenant if there is one, unless the deceased was the owner or tenant [63]. A self-employed person can arrange for someone else to report on their behalf [45].
- Deaths: as soon as possible, by the quickest practicable means, tell the Authority the deceased's name, brief particulars and the location. Then send a written report in the approved form within 5 working days of the death [45].
- Non-fatal injuries and dangerous occurrences: send a written report in the approved form as soon as reasonably practicable, and no later than 10 working days after the event [45].
- Fatal accident scene: nobody may disturb the place or tamper with anything there until an inspector has inspected it, or until 3 clear days after the report. The exceptions are anything done with an inspector's consent, anything another statute requires, and anything needed for safety or health [45].
Dangerous occurrences (Schedule 15)
These are reportable even if nobody is hurt. They don't apply at mines within the meaning of the Mines and Quarries Act 1965 [63].
- Collapse, overturning or failure of a load-bearing part of a lift or lifting equipment, an excavator, or a pile-driver more than 7 m high. Overturning of a vehicle or ride-on mobile work equipment, or its trailer. Load shift or loss of load from a vehicle, mobile machine or trailer that puts a person at work at risk of injury.
- Explosion, collapse or bursting of a closed pressure vessel, including a boiler or boiler tube.
- An unintentional explosion, or a fire that stops plant or suspends normal work for more than 24 hours.
- Sudden uncontrolled release of 1 tonne or more of a highly flammable liquid or a flammable gas or liquid.
- Collapse of a scaffold more than 5 m high, or of its suspension, that drops a platform or cradle more than 5 m.
- Unintended collapse of a building or structure under construction or demolition, or of falsework, involving more than 5 tonnes of material, or of any building used as a place of work.
- Uncontrolled or accidental release of any substance that might have caused injury.
- Unintentional ignition or explosion of explosives.
- Failure of a freight container while it is being raised, lowered or suspended.
- Bursting, explosion or collapse of a pipeline.
- Breathing apparatus malfunctions in a way that endangers the wearer.
- Plant or equipment contacts an overhead line above 200 V or causes it to discharge, or a live conductor falls.
- A collision between a locomotive or train and another vehicle at a factory or dock premises.
- Bursting of a power-driven revolving vessel, wheel, grindstone or grinding wheel.
- Collapse of a wind-turbine tower, or a blade (or part of one) separating from the turbine, for turbines with a hub height of at least 20 m.
Exclusions and related duties
- Not reportable under Part 14: disease, occupational illness and mental-health impairment [62]. Deaths or injuries of patients during treatment by a registered doctor or dentist are also excluded, unless the treatment was for a workplace accident or dangerous occurrence, or the cause has nothing to do with the patient's existing condition or the treatment [62].
- Records: keep a record of every reportable event for 10 years, with the same information as the approved form. Keep it at the workplace, or at your usual place of business if that isn't practicable, and send extracts if the Authority asks for them [46].
- Defence: you have a defence if you weren't aware of the event and had taken all reasonable steps to have it brought to your notice [66].
- Article testing: the Authority can require an article involved in an event to be examined and tested by a competent person. The report is due within 28 days of the test, and you must pass a copy to the Authority within 7 days of receiving it [67].
The Regulations call for the "approved form" but don't describe how to submit it. I can look up the HSA's current reporting channel on its website next if that would help.
Is the AF2 form still how you report?
No. AF2 isn't an accident reporting form. It's the construction project notification that the Project Supervisor Construction Stage (PSCS) sends under the Construction Regulations 2013. Accidents go to the HSA either online at webapps.hsa.ie or on the paper IR1 form.
Approach: The regulatory datasets don't hold the HSA's reporting-channel guidance, so I used official HSA pages: its accident-reporting information sheet, the online reporting portal and its Construction Regulations 2013 guidelines.
How the HSA says to report now (HSA information sheet):
- Accidents, online: through webapps.hsa.ie. The portal also lets you see your past reports and print copies of what you submitted.
- Accidents, on paper: fill in the IR1 form and post it to the HSA Contact Centre, The Metropolitan Building, James Joyce Street, Dublin 1. To get a hard copy, email contactus@hsa.ie or phone 0818 289 389.
- Dangerous occurrences: through the HSA's accident and dangerous occurrence reporting page, not through the accident portal. That page didn't load in full, so I couldn't confirm which form it uses for dangerous occurrences.
- Fatal accidents: tell the HSA (0818 289 389) or the Gardaí (999 or 112) straight away. The formal report is then due within 5 working days.
- Diseases or deaths from a biological agent: the portal says not to use online reporting for these (it gives Legionnaires' disease and COVID-19 as examples). There is a separate form instead (HSA portal).
What AF2 actually is: The HSA's Construction Regulations 2013 guidelines list "AF2 Notification by PSCS" in Appendix 1, "Approved Forms of Notification of Projects". AF1 is the client's version of the same notification (HSA guidelines). It is filed before construction work starts, not after an accident.
A correction to my last answer: The HSA information sheet gives the legal basis for accident reporting as the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No. 370 of 2016). I had described the duty using Part 14 of the 2007 Regulations, so those references may be out of date (HSA information sheet). The main rules on the sheet are the same as in my summary: the more-than-3-consecutive-days threshold, 5 working days for fatal reports, 10 working days for non-fatal reports and 10-year record keeping. The sheet also says two things my summary didn't cover:
- Self-employed people must report their own injuries.
- Mental injuries caused directly by an event, such as shock after an assault, are reportable if they keep the employee off normal work for more than 3 days.
I can pull the text of S.I. No. 370 of 2016 next to check exactly what it changed compared with Part 14.