Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 512: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the timetable for the introduction and issuing of the consequent regulations and compliance standards in view of the recently introduced Safety, Health and Welfare Act 2005 updating the legislation of 1989; if he foresees the replacement of many of the current regulations or compliance standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29187/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The process of developing proposals for new regulations under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, which came into operation on 1 September 2005, has commenced in respect of new general application regulations and new construction regulations.

The Health and Safety Authority is undertaking a public consultation process on the general application regulations. These proposed regulations will revoke and replace those provisions of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 1993 — SI No. 44 of 2003, as amended — which were not incorporated in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and which were not revoked under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application)(Revocation) Regulations 2005, SI No. 392 of 2005.

The proposed general application regulations will revoke and replace a range of existing regulations, including Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Signs) Regulations 1995, SI No. 132 of 1995; Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Miscellaneous Welfare Provisions) Regulations 1995, SI No. 358 of 1995; Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Children and Young Persons) Regulations 1998, SI No. 504 of 1998; Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Night Work and Shift Work) Regulations 2000, SI No. 11 of 2000; Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Pregnant Employees, etc.) Regulations 2000, SI No. 218 of 2000; and Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) (Amendment) Regulations 2001, S.I. No. 188 of 2001.

These regulations retranspose 11 EU directives and transpose for the first time the following EU directives relating to occupational safety, health and welfare: Directive 2001/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 amending Council Directive 89/655/EEC concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work, including work at height and Directive 2002/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2002 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents, vibration.

The Health and Safety Authority is also undertaking a parallel consultation exercise on draft safety, health and welfare at work (construction) regulations designed to revoke and replace the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2001 and 2003. The proposed changes in those regulations fall within four main categories: the addition of requirements to make existing obligations more explicit and tangible; the reallocation of duties between duty holders to ensure clarity and achieve more effective and timely intervention by key persons; changes of a technical nature to the main body of the regulations; and the removal generally of provision relating to work at height and to lifting operations, which it is intended to cover in the proposed new general applications regulations and in proposed new lifting operations regulations respectively.

Other replacement regulations for progression in 2006 include safety, health and welfare at work (quarries) regulations; safety, health and welfare at work (extractive industries) regulations; safety, health and welfare at work (mines) regulations; safety, health and welfare at work (carcinogens, mutagens, chemicals and biological agents) regulations; safety, health and welfare at work (fishing vessels) regulations; safety, health and welfare at work (noise) regulations, transposing Council Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances as amended by Directive 2003/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; safety, health and welfare at work (noise) regulations, transposing Directive 2003/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 February 2003 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise); and safety, health and welfare at work (asbestos) regulations, transposing Directive 2003/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 March 2003 amending Council Directive 83/477/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work.

New regulations to be developed under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 include safety, health and welfare at work (diving) regulations and regulations relating to medical fitness to work under section 23 of the 2005 Act.

It is intended that codes of practice and-or other appropriate guidance material will be produced in respect of the various regulations referred to above. I recently requested the chairman and board of the authority to bring forward proposals for regulations to implement the following: section 79 of the 2005 Act in respect of on-the-spot fines and section 13(1)(c) in regard to testing for intoxicants. I also asked the authority's board to consider appropriate ways to promote the concept of joint safety and health agreements between trade unions of employers and employees, as provided for under section 24 of the Act.