Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand that as part of the report, it will consult. We can check this. It is something we can also do when we get the report. To be clear, the Health and Safety Authority is aware that Covid-19 is a risk in healthcare settings and in other settings also. It is working with the HSE and individual employees in places of work to investigate the incidents among healthcare workers. The HSA is also investigating fatalities arising from cases where healthcare workers have contracted Covid-19. This is when they are called in. Approximately 9,000 non-fatal workplace injuries and accidents are reported to the HSA per year.

However, the report of a workplace injury or accident is for statistical analysis generally. It is when it goes deeper that it carries out the full investigation.

The Deputy asked why it is not included. As recently as 2016 a statutory instrument, SI 370 of 2016, amended the health and safety general application regulations to clarify issues for employers as to what was a workplace accident by setting out that the requirement to report an accident does not apply to an accident which occurs in a place of work or as a result of work activity in respect of which a person suffers any disease, occupational illness or any impairment of mental condition. At that time a regulatory impact assessment was carried out as part of this change to the regulations. The regulatory impact assessment identified that the exclusion of disease or occupational illness or any impairment of mental condition was needed as employers were not in a position to assess or attribute occupational disease or illness to a workplace activity. That is probably a fair assessment. However, we will await the report and take matters from there. We can discuss it in the House.

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