Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I have been asked to address this matter in the absence of my colleague the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, who is abroad on Government business.

The health, safety and welfare of persons at work can be considered a fundamental right for all workers and, as such, is governed by a comprehensive body of primary legislation. The responsibilities on employers and employees are clearly set out in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, and these can be summarised as the provision of a safe place of work by an employer and the taking of reasonable care towards one's own safety and the safety of others while at work by each worker.

The protection of workers in the workplace is recognised at all levels, from the United Nations by way of the work of the UN's International Labour Organisation; at EU level through a multitude of occupational safety and health directives based on the so-called Framework Directive in this area; and finally in our own domestic legislation.

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 updated and replaced the earlier 1989 Act under which the Health and Safety Authority was established. The authority supports the maintenance of a safe and healthy workplace for all workers. Its functions under this Act include:

the promotion, fostering and encouragement of health and safety in the workplace;

providing frameworks that support the prevention of accidents in the workplace; and

the provision of education and training on health and safety in the workplace.

The Health and Safety Authority also has responsibility to enforce the national provisions of occupational safety and health legislation, which it does by inspecting, advising and where necessary prosecuting those in charge of a place of work for breaches of the legislation.

The maximum penalties under the 2005 Act amount to €3 million and or two years' imprisonment. Prosecutions have taken place at the behest of the authority where inspections or investigations have demanded this. Such prosecutions have generally centred on employers who have failed to ensure the provision of a safe environment for their employees and where this failure has led to a fatality.

In this regard, it should also be noted that under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, managers and directors can be made liable and proceeded against directly for failures. This has happened in a number of cases involving fatalities.

Unfortunately, there have been workplace deaths for as long as there have been workplaces. To address such fatalities, and indeed the far-too-many injuries that can occur in workplaces, successive Governments have introduced legislation to enable workers to carry out their jobs in as safe a way as possible.

Over the last five years, including the early months of this year, 216 workplace deaths have been recorded by the HSA. Every single workplace fatality is a personal, family and workplace tragedy that deeply affects many people. Over the course of that period, by far the worst affected work areas have been agriculture and construction, representing over 50% of the total. Each death is a terrible tragedy and the Government continues to work in tandem with the Health and Safety Authority as well as trade union, employer and farming bodies in particular to work towards ever safer workplaces.

Overall, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Health and Safety Authority are satisfied that current occupational health and safety legislation contains sufficiently robust provisions to deal with serious breaches by employers of their duty to provide a safe place of work for employees, or by employees behaving recklessly. Nonetheless, Government and all players continue to work in partnership to continue to pursue ways and means of improving workplace safety on the ground.

The Law Reform Commission's 2005 report on corporate killing recommended an offence of corporate manslaughter, to which the Deputies referred, addressing corporate entities and a derivative offence of "grossly negligent management causing death", which could be addressed at high managerial agents within a company.

Arising from this a Government decision of December 2010 approved the drafting by the Minister for Justice and Equality of a General Scheme of a Criminal Justice (Corporate Manslaughter) Bill to implement the principal recommendations in the report. An interdepartmental working group, chaired by a retired Secretary General of a Government Department, was established to conduct a regulatory impact analysis of the proposals. It is expected the working group will complete the required RIA by the end of this year.

Workers' Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for workers killed, injured or made ill by their work. In 2001, the International Labour Organisation recognised Workers' Memorial Day. The ILO announced 28 April as an international day of action for safety and health at work, which is an annual international campaign to promote safe, healthy and decent work around the globe. It is a memorial day the Government wishes to be associated with and I understand the Health and Safety Authority will be involved in marking the day here in Ireland.

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