General Duties
Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005
General Duties
Chapter 1
General Duties of Employer
General duties of employer.
8.—(1) Every employer shall ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the employer’s duty extends, in particular, to the following:
(a) managing and conducting work activities in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees;
(b) managing and conducting work activities in such a way as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any improper conduct or behaviour likely to put the safety, health or welfare at work of his or her employees at risk;
(c) as regards the place of work concerned, ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable—
(i) the design, provision and maintenance of it in a condition that is safe and without risk to health,
(ii) the design, provision and maintenance of safe means of access to and egress from it, and
(iii) the design, provision and maintenance of plant and machinery or any other articles that are safe and without risk to health;
(d) ensuring, so far as it is reasonably practicable, the safety and the prevention of risk to health at work of his or her employees relating to the use of any article or substance or the exposure to noise, vibration or ionising or other radiations or any other physical agent;
(e) providing systems of work that are planned, organised, performed, maintained and revised as appropriate so as to be, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health;
(f) providing and maintaining facilities and arrangements for the welfare of his or her employees at work;
(g) providing the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health, and welfare at work of his or her employees;
(h) determining and implementing the safety, health and welfare measures necessary for the protection of the safety, health and welfare of his or her employees when identifying hazards and carrying out a risk assessment under section 19 or when preparing a safety statement under section 20 and ensuring that the measures take account of changing circumstances and the general principles of prevention specified in Schedule 3;
(i) having regard to the general principles of prevention in Schedule 3, where risks cannot be eliminated or adequately controlled or in such circumstances as may be prescribed, providing and maintaining such suitable protective clothing and equipment as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees;
(j) preparing and revising, as appropriate, adequate plans and procedures to be followed and measures to be taken in the case of an emergency or serious and imminent danger;
(k) reporting accidents and dangerous occurrences, as may be prescribed, to the Authority or to a person prescribed under section 33, as appropriate, and
(l) obtaining, where necessary, the services of a competent person (whether under a contract of employment or otherwise) for the purpose of ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees.
(3) Any duty imposed on an employer under the relevant statutory provisions in respect of any of his or her employees shall also apply in respect of the use by him or her of the services of a fixed-term employee or a temporary employee.
(4) For the duration of the assignment of any fixed-term employee or temporary employee working in his or her undertaking, it shall be the duty of every employer to ensure that working conditions are such as will protect the safety, health and welfare at work of such an employee.
(5) Every employer shall ensure that any measures taken by him or her relating to safety, health and welfare at work do not involve financial cost to his or her employees.
…….
Onus of proof.
81.—In any proceedings for an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions consisting of a failure to comply with a duty or requirement to do something so far as is practicable or so far as is reasonably practicable, or to use the best practicable means to do something, it shall be for the accused to prove (as the case may be) that it was not practicable or not reasonably practicable to do more than was in fact done to satisfy the duty or requirement, or that there was no better practicable means than was in fact used to satisfy the duty or requirement.
PART 2
Information for employees.
9.—(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 8, every employer shall, when providing information to his or her employees under that section on matters relating to their safety, health and welfare at work ensure that the information—
(a) is given in a form, manner and, as appropriate, language that is reasonably likely to be understood by the employees concerned, and
(b) includes the following information—
(i) the hazards to safety, health and welfare at work and the risks identified by the risk assessment,
(ii) the protective and preventive measures to be taken concerning safety, health and welfare at work under the relevant statutory provisions in respect of the place of work and each specific task to be performed at the place of work, and
(iii) the names of persons designated under section 11 and of safety representatives selected under section 25, if any.
(2) Where an employee of another undertaking is engaged in work activities in an employer’s undertaking, that employer shall take measures to ensure that the employee’s employer receives adequate information concerning the matters referred to in subsection (1).
(3) Every employer shall ensure that employees appointed under section 18 and safety representatives, if any, have access, for the purposes of performing their functions relating to the safety, health and welfare of employees, to—
(a) the risk assessment carried out under section 19,
(b) information relating to accidents and dangerous occurrences required to be reported to the Authority or a person prescribed under section 33 under the relevant statutory provisions, and
(c) any information arising from protective and preventive measures taken under the relevant statutory provisions or provided by the Authority, a person prescribed under section 33, or a person referred to in section 34(2).
(4) (a) Where an employer proposes to use the services of a fixed-term employee or a temporary employee, the employer shall, prior to commencement of employment, give information to the employee relating to—
(i) any potential risks to the safety, health and welfare of the employee at work,
(ii) health surveillance,
(iii) any special occupational qualifications or skills required in the place of work, and
(iv) any increased specific risks which the work may involve.
(b) Where an employer proposes to use the services of a temporary employee, the employer shall—
(i) specify to the temporary employment business concerned the occupational qualifications necessary for and the specific features of the work for which such an employee is required, and
(ii) ensure that the temporary employment business gives the information referred to in paragraph (a) to the employee.
(5) The temporary employment business referred to in subsection (4)(b) shall give to the employee the information referred to in subsection (4)(b)(i).
Instruction, training and supervision of employees.
10.—(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 8 and having regard to sections 25 and 26, every employer shall, when providing instruction, training and supervision to his or her employees in relation to their safety, health and welfare at work, ensure that—
(a) instruction, training and supervision is provided in a form, manner and, as appropriate, language that is reasonably likely to be understood by the employee concerned,
(b) employees receive, during time off from their work, where appropriate, and without loss of remuneration, adequate safety, health and welfare training, including, in particular, information and instructions relating to the specific task to be performed by the employee and the measures to be taken in an emergency,
(c) in relation to any specific task assigned to an employee, that his or her capabilities in relation to safety, health and welfare are taken into account,
(d) in the case of—
(i) a class or classes of particularly sensitive employees to whom any of the relevant statutory provisions apply, or
(ii) any employee or group of employees exposed to risks expressly provided for under the relevant statutory provisions,
the employees concerned are protected against the dangers that specifically affect them.
(2) Training under this section shall be adapted to take account of new or changed risks to safety, health and welfare at work and shall, as appropriate, be repeated periodically.
(3) Training under this section shall be provided to employees—
(a) on recruitment,
(b) in the event of the transfer of an employee or change of task assigned to an employee,
(c) on the introduction of new work equipment, systems of work or changes in existing work equipment or systems of work, and
(d) on the introduction of new technology.
(4) Where, in respect of any particular work, competency requirements are prescribed, the employer shall provide for the release of employees, during working hours, where appropriate, and without loss of remuneration, for the purpose of attending training in matters relating to safety, health and welfare at work as regards the particular work.
(5) Every employer shall ensure that persons at work in the place of work concerned who are employees of another employer receive instructions relating to any risks to their safety, health and welfare in that place of work as necessary or appropriate.
(6) Every employer who uses the services of a fixed-term employee or a temporary employee shall ensure that the employee receives the training appropriate to the work which he or she is required to carry out having regard to his or her qualifications and experience.
Annotations:
Editorial Notes:
E9
Previous affecting provision: application of section extended (13.07.2006) by Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Control of Noise at Work) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 371 of 2006), regs. 7 and 8; revoked (other than reg. 11(3), expired 14.02.2008) (1.11.2007) by Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299 of 2007), reg. 3(1)(z).
Emergencies and serious and imminent dangers.
11.—(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 8, every employer shall, in preparing and revising as necessary adequate plans and procedures to be followed and measures to be taken in the case of an emergency or serious and imminent danger—
(a) provide the necessary measures to be taken appropriate to the place of work for first aid, fire-fighting and the evacuation of employees and any other individual present in the place of work, taking account of the nature of the work being carried on and the size of the place of work,
(b) arrange any necessary contacts with the appropriate emergency services, in particular with regard to first aid, emergency medical care, rescue work and fire-fighting,
(c) for the purposes of implementing the plans, procedures and measures referred to in this section and section 8
(i) designate employees who are required to implement those plans, procedures and measures, and
(ii) ensure that the number of those employees, their training and the equipment available to them are adequate, taking into account either or both the size of and specific hazards relating to the place of work.
(2) In the event of an emergency or serious and imminent danger, an employer shall—
(a) as soon as possible inform all employees concerned of the risk involved and of the steps taken or to be taken to protect them from it,
(b) save in exceptional cases for the reasons specified in the plans and procedures referred to in subsection (1), refrain from requiring employees to carry out or resume work where there is still a serious and imminent danger to their safety and health, and
(c) ensure that, in the absence of appropriate guidance or instruction and having regard to the knowledge of the employee and the technical means at his or her disposal, and where the employee’s immediate superior responsible cannot be contacted, the employee concerned may take appropriate steps to avoid the consequences of the danger.
(3) In the event of serious, imminent and unavoidable danger, an employer shall—
(a) take action and give instructions to enable employees to either or both stop work and immediately leave the place of work and to proceed to a safe place, and
(b) ensure that an employee who leaves a place of work is not penalised because of such action.
(4) An employer shall ensure that only employees who have received appropriate instructions have access to the area of the place of work where a serious, specific danger exists.
(5) This section does not apply to the following persons when they are engaged in activities relating to civil emergencies, public order, security or an act of war where any such activity prevents compliance with this section:
(a) members of the Defence Forces;
(b) members of the Garda Síochána;
(c) employees of a fire authority (within the meaning of the Fire Services Act 1981); or
(d) persons engaged in the activities of civil protection or civil defence.
General duties of employers to persons other than their employees.
12.—Every employer shall manage and conduct his or her undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that in the course of the work being carried on, individuals at the place of work (not being his or her employees) are not exposed to risks to their safety, health or welfare.
Chapter 2
General Duties of Employee and Persons in Control of Places of Work
Duties of employee.
13.—(1) An employee shall, while at work—
(a) comply with the relevant statutory provisions, as appropriate, and take reasonable care to protect his or her safety, health and welfare and the safety, health and welfare of any other person who may be affected by the employee’s acts or omissions at work,
(b) ensure that he or she is not under the influence of an intoxicant to the extent that he or she is in such a state as to endanger his or her own safety, health or welfare at work or that of any other person,
(c) if reasonably required by his or her employer, submit to any appropriate, reasonable and proportionate tests for intoxicants by, or under the supervision of, a registered medical practitioner who is a competent person, as may be prescribed,
(d) co-operate with his or her employer or any other person so far as is necessary to enable his or her employer or the other person to comply with the relevant statutory provisions, as appropriate,
(e) not engage in improper conduct or other behaviour that is likely to endanger his or her own safety, health and welfare at work or that of any other person,
(f) attend such training and, as appropriate, undergo such assessment as may reasonably be required by his or her employer or as may be prescribed relating to safety, health and welfare at work or relating to the work carried out by the employee,
(g) having regard to his or her training and the instructions given by his or her employer, make correct use of any article or substance provided for use by the employee at work or for the protection of his or her safety, health and welfare at work, including protective clothing or equipment,
(h) report to his or her employer or to any other appropriate person, as soon as practicable—
(i) any work being carried on, or likely to be carried on, in a manner which may endanger the safety, health or welfare at work of the employee or that of any other person,
(ii) any defect in the place of work, the systems of work, any article or substance which might endanger the safety, health or welfare at work of the employee or that of any other person, or
(iii) any contravention of the relevant statutory provisions which may endanger the safety, health and welfare at work of the employee or that of any other person,
of which he or she is aware.
(2) An employee shall not, on entering into a contract of employment, misrepresent himself or herself to an employer with regard to the level of training as may be prescribed under subsection (1)(f).
Annotations:
Modifications (not altering text):
C4
Term “registered medical practitioner” construed by (13.02.2008 and 3.07.2008) Medical Practitioners Act 2007 (25/2007) ss. 2 and 108(1), S.I. Nos. 24 of 2008 and 231 of 2008.
Interpretation.
“registered medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner whose name is entered in the register;
Construction of references to registered medical practitioner and Medical Council, etc.
108.— (1) Every reference to a registered medical practitioner contained in any enactment or any statutory instrument shall be construed as a reference to a registered medical practitioner within the meaning of section 2 .
…
Editorial Notes:
E10
Previous affecting provisions: application of section extended (13.07.2006) by Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Control of Noise at Work) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 371 of 2006), reg. 7; revoked (other than reg. 11(3), expired 14.02.2008) (1.11.2007) by Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299 of 2007), reg. 3(1)(z).
Interference, misuse, etc.
14.—A person shall not intentionally, recklessly or without reasonable cause—
(a) interfere with, misuse or damage anything provided under the relevant statutory provisions or otherwise for securing the safety, health and welfare of persons at work, or
(b) place at risk the safety, health or welfare of persons in connection with work activities.
Annotations:
E11
Editorial Notes:
Previous affecting provisions: application of section extended (13.07.2006) by Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Control of Noise at Work) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 371 of 2006), reg. 7; revoked (1.11.07) (other than reg. 11(3), expired 14.02.2008) by Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299 of 2007), reg. 3(1)(z).
General duties of persons in control of place of work, etc.
15.—(1) This section applies to a person who has control to any extent of—
(a) a non-domestic place of work that has been made available as a place of work to persons other than employees of the person to whom this section applies,
(b) the means of access to or egress from that place of work, or
(c) any article or substance provided for the use of persons at that place of work, other than employees of the person who has control of the article or substance,
including a person who has control of a place of work or part of a place of work in connection with the carrying on by him or her of a trade, undertaking or business (whether for profit or not).
(2) Where a person has, by virtue of any contract, tenancy, licence or other interest, an obligation to any extent—
(a) to maintain or repair a place of work or the means of access thereto or egress therefrom, or
(b) as regards the safety of, or the absence of risk to health arising from, any article or substance provided for use in, that place of work,
the person is deemed, for the purposes of this section, to be a person to whom this section applies to the extent of his or her obligation.
(3) A person to whom this section applies shall ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the place of work, the means of access thereto, or egress therefrom, and any article or substance provided for use in the place of work, are safe and without risk to health.
Chapter 3
General Duties of Other Persons
General duties of designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of articles and substances.
16.—(1) A person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies any article for use at work shall—
(a) ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the article is designed and constructed so as—
(i) to be safe and without risk to health when properly used by a person at a place of work, and
(ii) to comply with the relevant statutory provisions and with the provisions of any relevant enactment implementing any relevant directive of the European Communities,
(b) ensure that the article undergoes appropriate levels of testing and examination to ensure compliance with paragraph (a),
(c) provide or arrange for the provision of adequate information about the article to the persons to whom it is supplied to ensure its safe use,
(d) ensure that persons to whom the article is supplied are provided with any revisions of the information provided under paragraph (c) as are necessary by reason of it becoming known that anything relating to the article gives rise to a serious risk to safety or health,
(e) if the person has responsibility under a rental, leasing or other arrangement to do so, maintain the article in a safe condition and in compliance with the relevant statutory provisions,
(f) comply with the relevant statutory provisions.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(c), adequate information includes information relating to—
(a) the use for which the article has been designed, manufactured or tested, as the case may be, and
(b) any conditions necessary to ensure its safe installation, use, maintenance, cleaning, dismantling or disposal without risk to safety or health.
(3) A person who undertakes the design or manufacture of any article for use at work shall carry out or arrange for the carrying out of any necessary research with a view to the discovery and, so far as is reasonably practicable, the elimination or minimisation of any risks to safety or health to which the design or article may give rise.
(4) A person who erects, assembles or installs any article for use at a place of work where that article is to be used by persons at work shall ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that nothing in the manner in which it is erected, assembled or installed makes the article unsafe or a risk to health when used at the place of work.
(5) A person who manufactures, imports or supplies a substance for use at work shall—
(a) ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the substance is safe and without risk to health when properly used by a person at a place of work,
(b) ensure that the substance undergoes appropriate levels of testing and examination to ensure compliance with paragraph (a),
(c) provide or arrange for the provision of adequate information about the substance to the persons to whom it is supplied to ensure its safe use, and
(d) comply with the relevant statutory provisions and with the provisions of any relevant enactment implementing any relevant directive of the European Communities.
(6) For the purposes of subsection (5)(c), adequate information includes information relating to—
(a) the identification of the substance,
(b) any risk to safety or health associated with its inherent properties,
(c) the results of any relevant tests or examination which have been carried out on or in connection with the substance that are relevant to its safe use, and
(d) any conditions necessary to ensure its safe use, handling, processing, storing, transportation or disposal without risk to safety or health.
(7) A person who undertakes the manufacture of a substance, or in the case where the manufacture was undertaken outside the State, the importer, shall carry out or arrange for the carrying out of any necessary research with a view to the discovery and, so far as is reasonably practicable, the elimination or minimisation of any risks to safety or health to which the substance may give rise when in use.
(8) Nothing in subsections (1) to (7) shall be read as requiring a person to repeat any testing, examination or research which has been carried out otherwise than by or on behalf of the person, in so far as it is reasonable for the person to rely on the results of that testing, examination or research, for the purposes of those subsections.
(9) Any duty imposed on a person by subsections (1) to (7) extends only to things done in the course of a trade, undertaking or business (whether for profit or not) carried on by the person and to matters within his or her control.
(10) Where a person designs, manufactures, imports or supplies an article or substance for use at work and does so for or to another person on the basis of a written undertaking by that other person to take specified steps that are sufficient to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the article or substance shall be safe and without risk to health or safety when it is used at a place of work, the undertaking has the effect of relieving the person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies the article or substance from the duty imposed by paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) and paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (5) to such extent as is reasonable having regard to the terms of the undertaking.
(11) Nothing in subsection (9) or (10) relieves any person who imports any article or substance from any duty in respect of anything which—
(a) in the case of an article designed outside the State, was done by and in the course of any trade, profession or other undertaking carried on by, or was within the control of, the person who designed the article, or
(b) in the case of an article or substance manufactured outside the State, was done by and in the course of any trade, profession or other undertaking carried on by, or was within the control of, the person who manufactured the article or substance.
(12) Where a person (in this subsection referred to as “the supplier”) supplies to another person (in this subsection referred to as “the customer”) any article or substance for use at work under a hire-purchase agreement, a leasing agreement or credit-sale agreement, and the supplier—
(a) carried on the business of financing the acquisition of goods by others by means of those agreements, and
(b) in the course of that business acquired his or her interest in the article or substance supplied to the customer as a means of financing its acquisition by the customer from a third party,
then that third party and not the supplier shall be treated for the purposes of this section as supplying the article or substance to the customer and any duty imposed by this section on suppliers shall, accordingly, fall on that third party and not on the supplier.
(13) For the purposes of this section, an absence of safety or a risk to health shall be disregarded in so far as the case is or, in relation to which it would arise is shown to be, one the occurrence of which could not reasonably be foreseen and, in determining whether a duty imposed by paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) or paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (5) has been performed, regard shall be had to any relevant information or advice which has been provided to any person by the person who designed, manufactured, imported or supplied the article or by the person who manufactured, imported or supplied the substance.