Managing Health and Safety

The cornerstone to good management of health and safety for workplace activities is having in place a site specific and up-to-date safety statement. Your safety statement is a commitment in writing of all the measures that your organisation will take to prevent injury and ill health to your employees. It must be based on risk assessments that you have carried out that are specific to the work activities in the location to which it applies.

Safety Statements- Where to Start?

21/09/2017 - The Safety Statement is a written programme that describes how they manage safety, health and welfare in the workplace. The legal reference is Section 20 of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005. This requirement applies to every company with more than three employees.

When a Health and Safety Inspector calls

10/07/2017 - “When a H.S.A inspector calls” was the theme of a recent Ibec webinar. Over 500 members signed up to the June 2017 webinar. The session covered health and safety law in relation to the Health and Safety Authority, the powers granted to inspectors, reasons why an inspector could call to your premises and the actions of an inspector.

Managing Health and Safety of Oversea Travel

22/05/2017 - Employers have a basic legal obligation to take reasonable care for the safety health and welfare of their employees. Sending an employee overseas on company business brings with it its own specific hazards and risks.

Manual Handling Risk Assessment

01/02/2017 - Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 –2016, Manual Handling of Loads a manual handling risk assessment must be carried out by a competent person in consultation with employees and must identify the specific aspects or part of the operation that could increase the risk of an injury to employees.

Homeworkers / Teleworkers / E-workers

03/10/2016 - It is not unusual for employees to carry out some of their work at home. Employers need to be aware of their duties under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 to ensure the safety of these employees.

Display Screen Equipment Risk Assessment

10/08/2016 - Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 –Display Screen Equipment habitual users are entitled to have their workstation risk assessed to evaluate possible risks which may give rise to visual or physical difficulties or to mental stress.

HSA inspections

10/08/2016 - Would you know what to do in the event of a Health and Safety Inspector calling to your business? If not the following pointers will help you to be prepared in the event that an inspector does arrive on your doorstep.

Night workers and shift workers

05/08/2016 - The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 Night Work and Shift Work specifically covers the risks to an employee from night work and / or shift work.

Carbon monoxide poisoning

26/02/2016 - Carbon monoxide (CO) is a common preventable cause of morbidity and mortality from poisoning worldwide. The incomplete combustion of organic materials, such as fossil fuels is a common environmental source of this gas. CO is produced by faulty appliances burning fossil fuels such as oil, wood, gas, and petrol.Over the years, many deaths have been caused by one of the above events arising in homes or businesses throughout the country.

How to deal with employee travel amid heightened safety concerns

22/12/2015 - It has never been more important for employers to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their employees when travelling abroad. Employees in certain sectors and industries are routinely sent abroad to work by their employers but the terror attacks in Paris in November 2015 and the heightened state of alert in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe that followed have highlighted the importance to companies of putting processes in place to comply with their legal obligations towards employees before sending them abroad.