Vol. 490 No. 3
42 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason complaints to the Health and Safety Authority made in February 1998, regarding dangerous conditions for workers on a building site (details supplied), were not rectified by the Authority resulting in serious injury to a building worker at that site on 22 April 1998 when he fell from the roof. [10166/98]
A complaint was received by the Health and Safety Authority on 26 February 1998, concerning the erection of scaffolding on the site referred to, as a result of which the site was visited by an inspector on 4 March. The inspector dealt with the complaint and noted the safety standards in general on the site had improved significantly since his previous visits in August 1997.
On 22 April, reports of an accident having occurred on the site were received by the authority in which a worker had sustained serious back injuries as a result of a fall of approximately eight metres from the roof valley of a roof under construction. The site was visited that day and the authority's investigation of that accident is ongoing.
On account of the nature of the construction industry, conditions on a construction site may vary from day to day as construction work progresses and only those on site can oversee and control safety. Accordingly, the law clearly places the responsibility for ensuring safety on those in control of the workplace, including employers, contractors, the self-employed and the workers.
43 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on whether there are sufficient staff in the Health and Safety Authority to adequately inspect all building sites in the Dublin area and to take the necessary measures to force builders, who are in breach of health and safety laws, to comply with them. [10167/98]
The National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health is responsible for the enforcement of all occupational health and safety legislation. The authority works to a targeted annual national programme and focuses on priority sectors with high accident rates, such as the construction sector. There has been a steady increase in the funding and staff allocated to the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health since its inception. In 1990 Exchequer funding amounted to £2.3 million and in 1998 it will amount to £4.7 million. In addition, Government sanction was secured late last year to enable the authority to increase its total staff to 119 with effect from 1 January 1998. In order to address long-term future staffing needs, the authority has produced a comprehensive submission which is being studied, at present, by my officials and officials from the Department of Finance.
The authority continues to devote a significant part of its inspection resources to the construction sector. For example, in 1997, out of a total of approximately 11,000 inspections countrywide across all sectors, 4,250, or 39 per cent, related to the construction sector. The total number of inspections in the Dublin area was 2,979 of which 1,341, or 45 per cent, were in the construction industry. The authority has inspection and enforcement responsibilities across all employment sectors and, accordingly, it is not possible to inspect all places of employment in any sector in any year.
The authority has a wide range of enforcement powers available to it under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction Regulations), 1995 to ensure compliance with the law. Those powers include the issuing of improvement directions where there is, or is likely to be, a risk to safety and health, improvement notices where an inspector believes that a law has not been complied with, prohibition notices where there is a risk of serious personal injury, the obtaining of High Court orders and, ultimately, the initiation of prosecution proceedings. The authority regularly uses these powers where necessary. In 1997, 240 prohibition notices were served in the sector, relating mainly to inadequate scaffolding and work at unprotected heights, and two High Court orders were obtained.
The authority encourages compliance with health and safety legislation not simply through enforcement measures, but also through ongoing awareness-raising exercises such as the safe scaffolding campaign and by adopting and promoting a partnership approach to safety in the construction sector.
