Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 209: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will ensure that proper safety precautions are being taken in the National Car Test sites and that workers' health and safety guidelines are respected, especially in regard to the full extraction method of dealing with car fumes. [6289/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Government Ministers do not have responsibilities under occupational health and safety legislation insofar as National Car Test Centres are concerned.

The National Car Test Centres are places of work which like all other workplaces are subject to health and safety legislation. It is the employer's duty to ensure that worker's health and safety is managed in workplaces.

Employers have a duty under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 to ensure that the potential hazards to their employees are identified and controlled so as to either eliminate or minimise the risks associated with the identified hazards.

In all workplaces, an employer is required to have a health and safety management system, including a site-specific safety statement and risk assessment that identifies the controls that are in place to control the identified risks and protect those at work.

Employees at a place of work should be advised of and familiar with what the identified risks and controls are.

The Health and Safety Authority is the national statutory body with responsibility for enforcing occupational safety and health law and, where breaches of such law are identified, the Authority takes appropriate action which can include criminal prosecution.