Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Engagement with Chairperson of the Health and Safety Authority
Ms Patricia Byron:
That is more about data-driven analysis of what I would term "sandboxes" in terms of risk management, risk profiling and having a proper risk framework in an environment, whether it is financial services, health and safety or the food industry. If one has the right data, one can see if there are more accidents in one cohort or than in another. The largest part of our productivity comes from small to medium-sized enterprises. Obviously, that in itself is a statistic that can be looked at. We can decide that we need to look in those areas. Potentially, the multinationals are fine. They have the resources, the money, the infrastructure and the learning and they can have a dedicated division. It is different for a five-person farm or, for example, the premises I visited in Kilkenny last week, a 12-person operation. One has to work in a different way.