Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

318. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment whether any national requirements exist for reporting, investigating, and documenting incidents involving hazardous materials at non-EPA-licensed facilities; and if he will publish the relevant regulatory framework. [65622/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is the national body in Ireland with responsibility for ensuring workers and those affected by a work activity are protected from work related injury and ill health. This responsibility arises from the functions of the HSA as set out in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

Where an employee is injured as a result of an occupationally related workplace incident resulting in the employee being unable to perform their normal work duties for three or more consecutive days, excluding the day of the accident, their employer has a statutory duty to report the incident to the HSA within 10 working days.

The HSA conducts proactive inspections across all sectors of the economy which include many different types of workplaces, many of which would be non-EPA licensed premises.

The Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Safety Health and Welfare (General Application) Regulations 2007 require employers to ensure the safety, health and welfare of their employees. This includes the reporting of all workplace accidents/incidents/dangerous occurrences resulting in fatal and non-fatal injuries (where an employee is injured and cannot perform their normal work duties for three consecutive days) which would including incidents involving hazardous materials. Details of these requirements can be found in the HSA’s Guidance on the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 2016.

Accidents can be reported to the HSA in two ways: by hard copy, i.e. completing the Incident Report Form (IR1) and posting it to the HSA Contact Centre (Health and Safety Authority, The Metropolitan Building , James Joyce Street, Dublin 1), or reporting online.

It should be noted that only fatal and non-fatal injuries are reportable to the HSA under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 2016. Fatal accidents must be reported immediately to the HSA or Gardaí. Subsequently, the formal report should be submitted to the HSA within five working days of the death. Non-fatal accidents or dangerous occurrences should be reported to the HSA within ten working days of the incident.

In addition to the above requirements, Regulation 6 (1) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic Substances) Regulations 2024 requires employers to inform the HSA in the event of any unforeseeable event or an accident at the workplace which is likely to result in an abnormal exposure of employees to carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxic substances. This information would come under Dangerous Occurrence Reporting System.

Outside of these provisions, any further queries should be directed to the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment.