Written answers

Tuesday, 9 June 2020

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Health and Safety Inspections

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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265. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when the necessary health and safety inspections by the HSA of workplaces will commence; and if the HSA has been resourced with the requisite number of staff to meet these responsibilities. [9786/20]

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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277. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the areas from which she plans to draw additional Covid-19 inspectors in view of the fact the HSE will need to deploy its own inspectors to carry out food safety and Covid-19 checks in restaurants and pubs when they reopen in June and July 2020 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9799/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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295. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of inspectors retained by the Health and Safety Authority. [10251/20]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 265, 277 and 295 together.

The Health and Safety Authority is the lead agency in monitoring adherence to the national Return to Work Safely Protocol. Upon the commencement of Phase 1 of the Roadmap for the Reopening of Society the Health and Safety Authority, along with its usual workload, began a national programme of inspections to check compliance with the Protocol. Between 18 May and close of business on 5th June the Health and Safety Authority has recorded 1276 inspections/investigations of which 1089 relate to the Protocol. The 1276 inspections were completed across a range of industry sectors including construction which accounted for around half of the inspections. The HSA normally undertakes about 200 inspections per week as part of its workplace health and safety remit so this level of inspections represents a significant increase overall.

The results from inspections are encouraging. Broadly speaking and based on an initial analysis of the specific COVID-19/Protocol inspections, compliance with the Return to Work Safely Protocol is high and employers are generally taking a responsible and proactive approach.

In terms of staff numbers, the Health and Safety Authority has a total staff complement of 182 which is made up of staff in administration and inspector grades. Of the 109 inspectors currently in the Authority across all grades, 67 inspectors have been made available to inspect on foot of the Return to Work Safely Protocol. This number covers both existing field inspectors as well as others redeployed internally from their existing roles.

The Health and Safety Authority inspectorate will be supplemented significantly by deploying, other inspectors from across the system who already have an environmental health, agriculture or other workplace/business inspection responsibilities. These resources will be drawn from the Workplace Relations Commission, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the cohort of Environmental Health Officers and will result in an additional 500 inspectors checking compliance with the Protocol as part of their normal inspection programme.

All of these groups of inspectors are fully committed to working with the Health and Safety Authority and I am confident that the approach being taken is a logical, and good, use of available existing resources to cover all business sectors.

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