What is a risk assessment?
A careful examination of what could cause harm or loss, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more.

What is risk?
A risk is the likelihood of the harm actually occurring, and the severity of the harm if it does occur. The severity should include the degree of harm to the individual and consideration given to the number of people who may be affected.

What is harm?
The adverse effect on an individual that may result from exposure to a hazard.
In terms of the legal requirements under Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 1993 harm is used specifically in terms of harm to individuals arising from substances, equipment, power supplies, particular situations or working methods present in the workplace and within the responsibility of the premises occupier or the employer.

What is loss?
Damage to property or equipment that may result from exposure to a hazard. In a Safety Management System designed to protect people, the potential for damage to property, machinery and other equipment, disruption to normal working including loss of production and commercial or financial losses should also be considered and designed to prevent these.

What is a hazard?
A hazard in health and safety law is essentially the potential for anything to cause harm to people, including staff, visitors and others who may be affected by workplace activities.

What is the legal status of a Safety Statement?
It is a legal requirement that every employee is required to prepare a written statement. of how health and safety is looked after in the workplace.

How frequently should the Safety Statement be reviewed?
Annually or more frequently if there have been changes in the process or new equipment purchased, change in legislation, change of employees who were assigned duties under health and safety

Can a Safety Representative instruct staff to leave a workplace?
No the Safety representative only has rights, they neither have responsibilities nor authority.

Are Safety Committees / Safety Representatives mandatory in the workplace?
No, but section 26 of the Safety Health and welfare Act 2005, specifies that an employer must consult with employees and take account of any representations made by the employees. This is mandatory, however, section 26 does not specify the exact type of consultation mechanisms. However, the above mechanisms would be widely practiced. A safety representative is mandatory on constructions sites with greater than 20 persons working on the site.

What is an Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs)?
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 authorises the Health and Safety Authority to draw up and issue Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs). ACoPs are Technical Specifications or Standards intended to provide practical information as to how an organisation can comply with a statutory provision.
ACoPs are not pieces of legislation, but since they are intended to provide information on complying with legislation, there is a clear link between them. In fact, the 2005 Act also states that failure to comply with an ACoP will be regarded as evidence of non-compliance with the statutory requirement to which the ACoP is connected.

Who causes accidents?
Research conducted by the Accident Prevention Advisory Unit of the British Health and Safety Executive indicates that in the case of 60% of accidents, the preventative measures were within the control of management. This figure is accepted as a good guide for Ireland by the Health and Safety Authority. It is also the basis for the requirement in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 that all organisations prepare a Safety Statement, which lays out the preventative programme of an organisation. An effective Safety Statement may prevent many of the 60% of accidents referred to by the British HSE study.

What is OHSAS 18001?
OHSAS 18001 was developed in response to this demand for a recognisable occupational health and safety management system standard, against which companies could publicly demonstrate their commitment to safe working practices and act as a benchmarking tool by defining accepted best practice in safety management. It is not a formal standard as such, but an auditable protocol, against which an organisation’s safety management system can be assessed by a third party. It was developed with input from the Spanish, Malaysian, UK and several other European standards organisations as well as the major certification companies.

What is Nifast’s relationship to the HSA?
None – Nifast is a commercial Health and Safety consultancy and training services supplier.

How practicable is reasonably practicable?
Where a risk is high, a great deal is expected in terms of money, time or trouble. Handling of chemicals and working with mechanised equipment would be two examples which experience shows are high-risk situations. The same applies to situations such as manual handling which continue to result in so many injuries, even though very rarely fatal injuries.

On the other hand, where a risk is low, a person will have done what is ‘reasonably practicable’ even if they failed to do something that was technically possible if that ‘something’ was disproportionately expensive when compared with the risk involved.

Is it mandatory for employers to provide all workers with an eyesight test?
No, only those employees who use VDU’s habitually are entitled to mandatory testing by a competent person before commencing VDU work with the employer, at regular intervals thereafter, or if the employee experiences visual difficulties which may be due to VDU work. (Regulation 32 of the Gen App Regs, Part VII).

What do the Manual Handling Regulations require employers to do?
The regulations require employers to avoid the need for manual handling. Where this is not practicable, a manual handling risk assessment must be carried out to determine how best to minimise the associated risk to the employee. The solution may be as simple as providing mechanical handling equipment such as a pallet trucks or scissors lift. Employers must also ensure that workstations are designed to allow for safe manual handling and that employees are physically suited to carry out the tasks safely. Manual handling training for employees is also a requirement and and training provided should be appropriate to the tasks. Manual handling training in isolation is not effective in reducing the risks to the employee and therefore must be done in conjunction with manual handling risk assessments and effective risk management.

What is the legislation governing confined space entry?
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Confined Spaces) Regulations 2001, cover this scenario, and state that if confined space entry is required, no person should enter or complete work in such a space unless an identification and evaluation of the risks to safety and health arising from this work has been carried out. In other words, a risk assessment!

Personal Protective Equipment – What are employers obligations?
If PPE is required, ensure it is suitable Protective Equipment. Issue PPE to employees and train them in the safe use and purpose of the equipment.
Keep records of what has been issued to individuals. Replace as required.
Supervise to ensure employees wear PPE at all times.

What are the employers obligations under the Chemical Agents Regulations 2001?
The implementation of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work, (Chemical Agents) Regulations 2001 imposes duties on the employer which include:

• Eliminate the use of the hazardous chemicals wherever possible
• A written chemical agent risk assessment
• Reduce exposure of employees to hazardous chemicals
• Monitor exposure to chemicals
• Control exposure to chemicals
• Provide information, instruction and training
• Provide relevant health surveillance, where risk assessment reveals a risk to health

What should the chemical agents risk assessment consider?
The chemical agent risk assessment must consider the following points:

• The hazardous properties of the chemical
• Information provided by the supplier
• The level, type and duration of exposure
• The circumstances of work involving the chemicals and the quantities stored and in use in the workplace
• Any occupational exposure limit value or biological limit value contained in an approved code of practice
• The effect of preventative measures taken
• Where available the conclusions from health surveillance already undertaken
• Any activity, including maintenance and accidental release, in respect of which it is foreseeable that there is a potential for significant exposures

Additionally the chemical agent risk assessment must be recorded in writing and reviewed regularly.

Why should I do occupational hygiene monitoring?
This is a requirement of the 2001 Chemical Agents Regulations. It is also a reassurance to employees to show that the control measures identified in Risk Assessments are working and to identify potential problems.

How often should I do occupational noise monitoring?
At regular interval, when changes have been made to machine / equipment /processes   or the layout of the machinery. The introduction to new legislation, such has occurred with the introduction of the Health, Safety and Welfare (Control of Noise At Work) Regulation 2006. The new regulations saw a reduction of the lower and upper action level.

What is an OEL?
OEL stands for Occupational Exposure Limit, which is the maximum concentration of an airborne substance, averaged over a reference period, at which, according to current knowledge, there is no evidence that is likely to be injurious to employees if they are exposed, by inhalation, day after day to that concentration.

What training records are required?
All Health & Safety training should be recorded.
Statutory training should be refreshed as required e.g FLT 3-5 years, (FLT training undertaken since April 2006 requires 3 year freher training) Manual Handling 3 years.
Training record card should be signed off by trainer & trainee.

How long should training records be maintained?
For as long as the employee is in service with the company and at least ten years after that. For chemical, noise, biological related training, the records should be maintained for at the life of the workers.

How long should I keep accident records?
For general accident records causing immediate injury records should be maintained for at least ten years, for accidents where there may be long term health effects or they may not become apparent for some time in the future, 40 years is recommended.