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Management of Safety, Health & Welfare at Work.

 

Safety in the workplace is of paramount importance in many respects, some of which may not be obvious in the day to day running of your business or workplace.  Of special importance is to value the benefits that efficient management of safety brings to any organisation.  There is a legal and moral responsibility to manage safety, health & welfare at work but in addition, failure to do so can have significant financial implications for a business, right up to potential closure.

 

Legislation

 

The Safety, Health & Welfare at work Act 2005 and supporting Acts and Regulations place legal obligations on employers, their agents and employees.

 

The critical issues of compliance are:

 

• Preparation of a Safety Statement by all employers and relevant risk assessments for work being undertaken.
• Provision of instruction, training and supervision (including statutory safety training) to all employees.
• Provision of safe workplaces, including access, egress, fire safety etc., as required under Fire Safety Acts and Safety, Health & Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 – 2016.
• Statutory Certification of plant and equipment.

 

For employers who are construction/maintenance based or companies who are getting construction work carried out in the premises, compliance with 2013 construction regulations is required.  The principle issues for compliance are; appropriate appointments must be made by client, Safety Plan and Method Statements must be prepared and notification of construction activity to HSA and statutory certification of plant and equipment.

 

Failure to be legally compliant could result in death, injury, damage to plant, damage to equipment and property with result of grief, medical costs, prosecutions, financial loss, loss of client, closure of business, reputation of the business and its owners.  The results of a conviction following prosecution for breaches of safety include heavy fines of up to €3m and prison sentences of up to 2 years.

 

The benefits of properly managing safety at work will be to ensure persons (including the public) are safe at work and in compliance with the law by the employer.

 

Please contact us if you would like to avail of the services of our Health and Safety Consultant.

 

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