Irish Workplace Safety Requirements
What does Irish workplace health and safety law require employers to do?
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 puts a general duty on every Irish employer to "ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees" (s.8(1)) [1]. In practice the core duties are a written risk assessment, a safety statement, competent help, training, emergency arrangements, consultation and accident reporting. The detailed technical rules are in the General Application Regulations (S.I. No. 299/2007).
Approach: I read the current consolidated text of the 2005 Act and S.I. No. 299/2007. The many other sector- and hazard-specific Irish regulations (for example construction) are not covered below. The one exception is the Chemical Agents Regulations, mentioned at the end.
What "reasonably practicable" means
For employers, it means you have "exercised all due care" by putting in place the protective and preventive measures needed after identifying hazards and assessing risks. You only stop where further measures would be "grossly disproportionate" given the "unusual, unforeseeable and exceptional" nature of a circumstance (s.2(6)) [2].
General duties (s.8)
Section 8(2) lists what the general duty covers in particular [1]:
- Running work safely: manage and conduct work safely, and prevent improper conduct or behaviour that puts employees at risk.
- The workplace and equipment: design, provide and maintain a safe place of work, safe access and exit, and safe plant, machinery and other articles.
- Hazardous agents: prevent risks from articles, substances, noise, vibration, radiation and other physical agents.
- Systems of work and welfare: provide safe systems of work, plus welfare facilities.
- Information and training: provide the information, instruction, training and supervision needed.
- Prevention measures and PPE: set protective measures in line with the Schedule 3 principles of prevention. Provide protective clothing and equipment where risks cannot be eliminated or adequately controlled.
- Emergencies: prepare emergency and serious-danger plans.
- Accidents: report accidents and dangerous occurrences as prescribed.
- Competent advice: obtain the services of a competent person where necessary.
- Agency and fixed-term staff: the same duties apply to fixed-term and temporary (agency) employees (s.8(3)-(4)).
- No cost to staff: safety measures must not involve financial cost to employees (s.8(5)).
Schedule 3 principles of prevention [3]:
- Avoid risks.
- Evaluate unavoidable risks.
- Combat risks at source.
- Adapt work to the individual.
- Adapt the workplace to technical progress.
- Replace dangerous items with safer ones.
- Prioritise collective protection over individual protection.
- Develop a prevention policy.
- Give training and instructions.
Specific duties
| Topic | What the employer must do |
|---|---|
| Information (s.9) | Give information in a form and language employees are likely to understand. Cover the hazards and risks identified, the protective measures, and the names of designated persons and safety reps. Brief agency and fixed-term staff before they start [4] |
| Training (s.10) | Train on recruitment, on a transfer or change of task, when new equipment or systems of work are introduced, and when new technology arrives. Repeat periodically. Train during working time where appropriate, "without loss of remuneration" [5] |
| Emergencies (s.11) | Arrange first aid, fire-fighting and evacuation, and contacts with emergency services. Designate and train enough staff to carry out the plans. Allow employees to stop work and go to a safe place if there is serious, imminent and unavoidable danger, and do not penalise them for it [6] |
| Non-employees (s.12) | Run the undertaking so that other people at the workplace are not exposed to risks, so far as is reasonably practicable [7] |
| Competent persons (s.18) | "Shall... appoint one or more competent persons". Give them enough time and means. Prefer an in-house competent person where that person's knowledge is adequate [8] |
| Risk assessment (s.19) | Identify hazards and assess risks, and "be in possession of a written assessment". Review it after a significant change or if it may no longer be valid, and carry out the improvements it identifies [9] |
| Safety statement (s.20) | Prepare a written safety statement covering hazards, measures, resources, emergency plans, employee duties, named responsible persons and consultation arrangements. Bring it to employees' attention at least annually and to new recruits on starting. Keep it available at the workplace. Amend it within 30 days if an inspector directs (s.20(5)(c)). Employers with 3 or fewer employees may instead follow an applicable code of practice (s.20(8)) [10] |
| Shared workplaces (s.21) | Co-operate and co-ordinate with other employers, and inform each other of risks, including by exchanging safety statements [11] |
| Health surveillance (s.22) | Make health surveillance available where the risk assessment shows it is appropriate [12] |
| Medical fitness (s.23) | Employers "may" require prescribed classes of employee to be medically assessed. They "shall" ensure assessment for prescribed high-risk work activities [13] |
| Safety representatives (s.25) | Employees "may" appoint a safety rep. If they do, the employer must consider the rep's representations, give paid time off for training and duties, and tell the rep when an inspector visits [14] |
| Consultation (s.26) | Consult employees and/or reps "in advance and in good time" on the risk assessment, the safety statement, appointments, training, new technologies and similar matters [15] |
| No penalisation (s.27) | Do not penalise an employee for complaining, acting as a safety rep or leaving serious and imminent danger. A dismissal resulting wholly or mainly from penalisation is deemed unfair [16] |
Accident reporting (S.I. 299/2007, Part 14)
What must be reported [17]:
- the death of an employee;
- an employee off normal work for more than 3 consecutive days, not counting the day of the accident but counting non-working days;
- a death within one year of a work accident;
- a member of the public taken to hospital, or dying within a year, after a work-related accident;
- any dangerous occurrence listed in Schedule 15.
Deadlines:
- Deaths: notify by the quickest practicable means, then send a written report within 5 working days.
- Non-fatal injuries and dangerous occurrences: send a written report within 10 working days.
After a fatal accident: do not disturb the scene until an inspector has inspected it or 3 clear days have passed since the report.
Records: keep them for 10 years [18].
Other parts of the General Application Regulations
The Regulations also set detailed rules on:
- the workplace and work equipment;
- electricity;
- work at height;
- physical agents;
- sensitive risk groups, including children and young persons and night/shift workers [19][20];
- safety signs and first aid;
- explosive atmospheres and artificial optical radiation;
- pressure systems, woodworking machines, abrasive wheels and abrasive blasting.
Separate rules govern chemical exposure and occupational exposure limits: the Chemical Agents Regulations (S.I. No. 619/2001) and the HSA Code of Practice.
Enforcement and personal liability
Penalties (s.78): on indictment, a fine of up to €3,000,000 and/or up to 2 years' imprisonment. On summary conviction, up to €5,000 and/or up to 12 months [21].
Directors and managers (s.80): they can be personally guilty of an offence committed by the undertaking with their consent, connivance or neglect. Their consent, connivance or neglect is presumed until they prove otherwise [22].
I can go into any specific regulation, such as work at height, manual handling or the chemical exposure limits.
How does the HSA enforce these duties?
The HSA (the Health and Safety Authority) enforces the 2005 Act mainly through inspectors. They have wide powers to enter, inspect and question. They can escalate from an improvement plan direction to an improvement notice, and then to a prohibition notice. For the most serious cases, the Authority can go to the High Court or prosecute, and it can publish the names of those it has penalised.
Approach: I read Part 6 (Enforcement), Part 7 (Offences and Penalties) and s.34 of the current consolidated text of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. I did not look at the HSA's own policy on how it uses these powers in practice.
The legal basis
- The Authority's duty to enforce: one of the HSA's general functions is "to make adequate arrangements for the enforcement of the relevant statutory provisions" (s.34(1)(d)). It works alongside its prevention, education and information functions [23].
- Inspectors: the Authority, or a body prescribed under s.33, appoints inspectors. Each inspector has a certificate of authorisation and must show it, with personal ID, if a person affected asks (s.62) [24].
Inspectors' powers (s.64)
Entry and inspection [25]:
- An inspector may "at any time enter any place" they reasonably believe is a place of work, and inspect it.
- They can direct that a scene be left undisturbed.
- They can direct that a safety statement be amended under s.20(5)(c).
Records and information [25]:
- They can require records, information and assistance.
- They can copy or remove records.
- They can summon people by written notice and examine them under a declaration of truth.
Testing and evidence [26]:
- They can take measurements, photographs, recordings and air samples.
- They can test, dismantle or remove articles and substances, and keep them as evidence.
- If an inspector asks, the employer "shall" give the supplier's name and address for an article or substance used at work.
Limits and back-up [27]:
- Dwellings can be entered only with the occupier's consent or a District Court warrant.
- A warrant also allows entry "if need be by reasonable force".
- Inspectors may bring a Garda (police officer).
- No one is required to give answers that incriminate themselves (s.64(9)).
The enforcement ladder
| Tool | Trigger | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Improvement plan direction (s.65) | Activity that involves or is likely to involve a risk to safety, health or welfare | Written direction to submit a remedial plan within one month. The inspector confirms adequacy, or orders a revision, within one month. Once the plan is accepted, the employer must implement it. The safety rep gets a copy [28] |
| Improvement notice (s.66) | A contravention of the relevant statutory provisions, a failure to submit or implement a plan, or a plan found inadequate | States the reasons and the provision breached, and sets a remedy date no earlier than the end of the appeal period. Appeal to the District Court within 14 days. The person confirms compliance in writing, and the inspector confirms within one month [29] |
| Prohibition notice (s.67) | Risk of serious personal injury | Prohibits the activity until it is remedied. Takes effect immediately on receipt. Appeal to the District Court within 7 days. An appeal does not suspend the notice unless the court so directs [30] |
| High Court order (s.68) | Activity continued in breach of a prohibition notice | An inspector may apply to the High Court, ex parte if necessary, for an order prohibiting the activity [31] |
| High Court order (s.71) | Risk so serious that use of a place of work should be restricted or immediately prohibited | The Authority applies ex parte. The order overrides any permission granted under other legislation [32] |
When an improvement or prohibition notice is served, the recipient must:
- bring it to the attention of everyone whose work it affects;
- display it prominently near the affected work, article or substance (s.69) [33].
Other powers
- Information notices (s.72): the Authority can require specified information by written notice. There is a 7-day appeal to the District Court [34].
- Investigations and special reports (s.70): the Authority can direct staff or other competent persons to investigate accidents and incidents. Those investigators have all an inspector's powers. Special reports go to the Minister and may be made public. Air, rail and marine accidents are excluded unless the Minister consents [35].
- Codes of practice (ss.60-61): the HSA publishes or approves codes of practice. In a prosecution, a code is admissible in evidence, and so is the defendant's failure to follow it or compliance with it [36][37].
Prosecution and sanctions
Who prosecutes and when (s.82) [38]:
- The Authority may bring and prosecute summary proceedings.
- It must do so within 12 months of the offence.
- Where a special report is made, it has until 6 months after the report or 12 months after the contravention, whichever is later.
Offences (s.77) [39]:
- breaching the general duties in ss.8-23;
- obstructing an inspector, or failing to comply with an inspector's request or directions;
- giving false information;
- breaching an improvement notice;
- continuing an activity in breach of a prohibition notice;
- contravening a s.71 order.
Court powers after conviction (s.77) [40]:
- Remedial orders: the court may order the convicted person to fix the breach. Failing to do so is a further offence.
- Continuing offences: a failure to act by a deadline is deemed to continue until the thing is done.
- Personal injury: where someone is injured as a result of a breach of certain duties (ss.8-12 and 14-17), that is itself an offence. There are limited exceptions, such as an earlier prosecution for the same default that was heard and dismissed before the injury.
- No blaming staff: an employer has no defence based on the act or default of an employee or of the competent person it appointed under s.18.
Penalties (s.78) [21]:
- Lower tier (s.77(1) offences): up to €5,000 on summary conviction.
- Main tier: on summary conviction, up to €5,000 and/or 12 months' imprisonment. On indictment, up to €3,000,000 and/or 2 years.
- Costs: the court "shall" order the convicted person to pay the Authority's investigation and prosecution costs, unless there are "special and substantial reasons" not to.
Onus of proof (s.81) [41]:
- In a prosecution for a breach of a "reasonably practicable" duty, it is for the accused to prove that it was not reasonably practicable to do more than was done.
Naming (s.85) [42]:
- The Authority may compile and publish lists of people fined or penalised by a court, served with a prohibition notice, or subject to a s.71 interim or interlocutory order.
- The lists may include particulars of the matter and of the penalty.
Directors and managers can also be personally liable, as covered last time under s.80.