Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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206. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to support a matter (details supplied) regarding health and safety legislation in relation to asbestos; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4314/16]

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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The provisions of occupational safety and health legislation on the control of asbestos apply with respect to the protection of workers at their place of work and are primarily focused upon prevention. The requirements of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 (No. 10 of 2005) and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations, 2007 to 2016 apply and must be considered with respect to the protection of workers at the place of work. In addition, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations 2006 and 2010, which are enforced by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), place obligations on employers and employees to ensure that the risk of exposure to asbestos is eliminated or reduced to a minimum and that any remaining residual risk is adequately controlled in accordance with the legislation. The 2006 and 2010 Asbestos Regulations provide for the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work, the health surveillance of employees where exposure has occurred and for the maintenance of an occupational health register in relevant employments.

The statutory obligation to organise preventive health care rests with the employer. Health surveillance is accordingly required where workplace conditions increase the likelihood of employees becoming susceptible to a disease associated with a particular substance in use (e.g. asbestos and cancer), and where it is possible to detect the disease or any adverse change and reduce the risk of further harm.

Employers must establish and maintain an occupational health register for all employees who undertake asbestos work activities and this register must be maintained for a minimum of forty years following the end of any individual’s exposure.

In the case of the inquiry made by the Deputy, contact should be made by the individual with his former employer regarding any exposure encountered during the course of his employment that may be recorded in the occupational health register. The employer is required to make access to the occupational health register available upon reasonable notice to an employee or his/her representative.

The presence of asbestosis within the wider community is a public health matter, and the issue of injury benefit for people who contracted a prescribed occupational disease (such as asbestosis) falls under the remit of the Minister for Social Protection.