Mr. Conor O'Brien:

The Health and Safety Authority welcomes the opportunity to meet the committee today. I am the chief executive of the authority, and I am accompanied today by my assistant chief executives, as introduced by the Cathaoirleach earlier. I thank the Chairman of the committee for inviting us to speak and outline our general role and operations.

Established in 1989 under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, which has been replaced by the 2005 Act, the Health and Safety Authority is the national statutory body with responsibility for enforcing occupational safety and health law, promoting and encouraging accident prevention, and providing information, advice and education on safety and health for all workplaces. Additional functions have been conferred on the authority since then under the Chemicals Acts 2008 and 2010 and other legislation. In 2014, the Irish National Accreditation Board was included under the authority’s functions.

The authority’s responsibilities extend far beyond occupational health and safety. We also play a crucial role in areas such as accreditation, market surveillance and the regulation of chemicals and industrial products. As a national competent authority, our work is essential for implementing the EU chemicals strategy for sustainability. Furthermore, we assist Irish industry in bringing its goods to market and support the effective management of economic supply challenges, including those arising from the UK’s departure from the EU and the conflict in Ukraine. We are also the competent authority for several critical activities such as control of major accident hazard sites and transportation of dangerous goods by road.

Partnership has always been at the forefront of our approach, whether through the operation of advisory committees, agreed work programmes or the provision of guidance and advice. Our tripartite board, with representatives from employee and employer stakeholders as members, recognises the importance of constructive and co-operative engagement in meeting our goal of healthy, safe and productive lives and enterprises. We believe engagement between employees and employers is equally critical to meet this goal in each workplace.

The work of the Health and Safety Authority plays a pivotal role in ensuring the safety and well-being of individuals throughout the State. The areas of work we cover are as diverse as the economy itself. One of our key functions is to develop and maintain a culture of safety and health for more than 2.7 million people who work in Ireland today, whether they are employers, self-employed or employees. I am very conscious in presenting statistics that behind these numbers are real people and families, and I acknowledge the people whose lives have been changed irrevocably through work-related activities. A total of 459 people died in work-related incidents in Ireland over the past decade, while 43 people died in workplace incidents last year. A continued high level of fatalities was experienced in farming and construction, with these sectors accounting for more than two thirds of all fatalities. So far this year, ten people have lost their lives. However, despite employment numbers increasing, authority records show an overall decrease in the rate of workplace fatalities per 100,000 workers in Ireland over this period, from a rate of 4.9 in 1990 to 1.6 today.

In 2023, we undertook targeted inspection campaigns in the high-risk sectors of construction, agriculture and quarries, transport and storage, health and social care, and chemical production and storage. We completed 9,995 proactive and 463 reactive inspections across all economic sectors. We completed 225 investigations following incident reports received. A total of 83 investigations were undertaken into fatal accidents, of which 43 were deemed work-related. Nineteen prosecutions were concluded, resulting in fines totalling more than €1.3 million. Our inspection approach is that the vast majority of inspections are unannounced. In some instances, advance notice must be provided for operational reasons.

Throughout 2023, the authority continued its support for and engagement with key stakeholders through the farm safety partnership advisory committee and the construction safety partnership advisory committee. We are also engaged with both employer and employee stakeholders in other sectors. In 2023, the board approved the establishment of a new health and social care advisory committee, which met for the first time in recent weeks. This committee will provide a forum for key stakeholders to advise and support the authority in promoting best practice in occupational health and safety in this sector.

Our organisational structures and work processes have undergone significant transformation in recent years. This momentum continues and we will further grow our teams and expertise and embed integrated ways of working and advanced technology solutions this year. The authority currently has sanction for 317 staff, which represents a significant increase in recent years. Our staff are critical to carrying out the important work of inspecting, enforcing, promoting, educating and generally raising awareness, increasing understanding and securing commitment across all workplaces. With thanks to Government support and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in particular, we can continue to expand our workforce and further enhance our impact on workplace safety and health. At present, we have 273 staff members in position, with 44 current vacancies. A total of 120 new staff have joined the authority in the three years since 2022. While we continue to strive towards our sanctioned headcount, we face similar challenges to other public sector bodies in competing with a buoyant labour market, with a low starting salary for roles that are typically highly specialised and technical.

The significant reduction in work-related fatality rates highlights the impact of effective regulation in saving lives and reducing both injuries and illnesses. This investment also directly translates into cost savings for the Exchequer and the economy.

Our programme of work for 2024 is well advanced and has been developed to complement the priorities as outlined in our strategy statement. The 2024 programme of work is the third and final programme in the current strategic cycle. A key priority is on occupational health. While the prevention of work-related fatalities is of course vital, many thousands of workers suffer life-changing injuries and illnesses every year, and it is essential the health of workers and not just their physical safety is an integral part of all Irish workplaces. Our occupational health division continues to prioritise activity in relation to psychosocial hazards and risks in key sectors. As mentioned, a health and social care advisory committee of the board has also recently been established and we look forward to the sectoral expertise that the committee can provide to our board.

A further key task for our board in 2024 is the development of our next strategy statement for the period 2025 to 2027. We will engage in wide and meaningful consultation with stakeholders, staff and the public and we look forward to submitting our new strategy to the Minister in October. The changing world of work, driven in many ways by technology and new ways of working, has created emerging and evolving challenges in ensuring the safety, health and welfare of all workers. These challenges are only likely to increase in the future. This new world of work features a blended work environment for many organisations. Entirely new industries have emerged and jobs that did not exist a decade ago are now commonplace. Novel ways of working, once the preserve of niche workers, have become widely accepted. These changes have also introduced new workplace hazards that employers must carefully consider. With new challenges emerging in workplace safety and health, coupled with an increasingly intricate regulatory landscape, it is clear the demands on our resources will continue to increase into the future.

The reality is our work remains vital in ensuring the safety and well-being of every worker in Ireland. The staff of the authority is committed to cultivating a workplace culture focused on safety and health across all Irish workplaces. Our aim is to drive behavioural change and achieve sustained performance improvement, thereby reducing accidents, ill health and fatalities. I thank the staff and management of the HSA for their continued dedication and hard work. I thank the committee members for their attention. We welcome their questions and observations.