Q.01

What should an Irish workplace risk assessment include?

In Ireland, every employer shall identify the hazards in the workplace they control, assess the risks those hazards present, and hold a written risk assessment covering the safety, health and welfare of their employees. That includes any single employee or group who may face unusual or other risks (section 19(1), Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005). The risk assessment then feeds the written safety statement required by section 20, and the statute lists what that statement must specify.

Approach: The consolidated Act and the General Application Regulations 2007 could not be searched in our datasets this time. So I read sections 19 and 20 and Schedule 3 on the Irish Statute Book, checked the Law Reform Commission revised text for amendments, and read the Health and Safety Authority's (HSA) guide to risk assessments and safety statements.

1. What the law requires (section 19)

  • Scope: the hazards in the workplace under the employer's control, and the risks to employees. It must specifically cover any employee or group exposed to unusual or other risks under the relevant statutory provisions (s.19(1)).
  • Link to specific regulations: the employer "shall, taking account of the work being carried on", have regard to the duties under the relevant statutory provisions (s.19(2)). In practice, the assessment must also meet hazard-specific rules such as the chemical agents rules.
  • Review: the employer must review it where there has been a significant change, or there is another reason to believe it is no longer valid, and amend it as appropriate (s.19(3)).
  • Action: the employer "shall take steps to implement any improvement considered necessary" and make sure it is applied across all activities and levels of the workplace (s.19(4)).
  • Non-employees: persons covered by sections 12 or 15 must also assess risks to people other than their own employees (s.19(5)).

The revised text shows no amendments to section 19 or 20. Its only note on section 20 is that the Quarries Regulations 2008 (S.I. No. 28 of 2008), reg. 11, prescribe extra safety statement details for quarries.

2. What the safety statement must specify (section 20(2))

(a) the hazards identified and the risks assessed (b) the protective and preventive measures taken, and the resources provided (c) the emergency plans and procedures, including for serious and imminent danger, in compliance with sections 8 and 11 (d) employees' duties, including co-operation (e) the names, and where applicable job titles, of everyone responsible for tasks under the statement (f) the arrangements for safety representatives and for employee consultation and participation (sections 25 and 26), including the names of the safety representative and the safety committee members, if appointed

Other duties in section 20:

  • Communication: bring the statement, in a form and language likely to be understood, to the attention of:
    • employees at least annually and after each amendment
    • new recruits when they start
    • other persons at the workplace who may be exposed to a specific risk it covers (s.20(3))
  • Serious-risk tasks: give those affected the relevant extracts (the risk, the risk assessment, and the measures taken) (s.20(4)).
  • Review: after a significant change, or where it may no longer be valid, or within 30 days where an inspector directs it to be amended (s.20(5)).
  • Availability: keep a copy, or the relevant extract, available for inspection at or near each workplace while work is carried out there (s.20(7)).
  • Small employers: with 3 or fewer employees, following an applicable code of practice on safety statements is sufficient compliance (s.20(8)). The HSA notes such codes exist for construction, agriculture and fishing.

3. How to choose controls (Schedule 3, General Principles of Prevention)

  1. Avoid the risk.
  2. Evaluate unavoidable risks.
  3. Combat risks at source.
  4. Adapt the work to the individual.
  5. Adapt to technical progress.
  6. Replace dangerous articles, substances or systems with safer ones.
  7. Give collective protection priority over individual protection.
  8. Develop a prevention policy.
  9. Give appropriate training and instruction.

The HSA guide calls this the "first schedule"; in the Act itself it is Schedule 3.

4. HSA practical method

The HSA guide sets out three steps:

  • Step 1, look at the hazards:

    • physical: manual handling, slips and trips, fire, working at height, driving for work
    • health: noise, vibration, lighting, dust, stress
    • chemical: from cleaning agents to solvents and acids
    • human factors: bullying, violence

  • Step 2, assess the risks: estimate how likely harm is, how severe it would be, and how often and how many people are exposed. Rating risks low, medium or high is the simplest way. Consider:

    • people not always on site: cleaners, visitors, contractors, maintenance staff, and the public
    • vulnerable groups: young people, older people, pregnant, post-natal and breastfeeding employees, night and shift workers, people with language difficulties or disabilities, and people who handle money or deal with the public

  • Step 3, decide on control measures and put them in place: follow the hierarchy above, with PPE as a last resort.

  • Record and communicate: the law does not set a format. The HSA's template has these columns:

    • hazard
    • who is at risk
    • current controls
    • remaining risk level
    • additional controls
    • action by whom and by when
    • date completed
    • name of the assessor and date

    The findings must be recorded in the safety statement. Employees and safety representatives should be consulted. You can cross-refer to existing documents (SDSs, operating instructions, procedures) rather than repeat them.

  • Review: the HSA recommends reviewing at least annually, and when work, equipment, chemicals, staffing or the law changes. The HSA does not pre-approve safety statements, but an inspector can direct a revision within 30 days. Its free BeSMART.ie tool produces a workplace-specific safety statement for the business types it covers.

Sources:

Q.02