Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 April 2008
264 Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has considered, or will consider, the level of risk of displaying CFLs in retail outlets; the potential risk to employees and to the public in the event of breakage; and the advice his Department will provide to retailers to enable them to safely display and deal with the release of toxic mercury in the event of breakage. [16483/08]
View answerThe safety or otherwise of CFLs in a retail setting are matters of environmental and public health and as such are more appropriate to my colleague, the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I have considered the Deputy's question from the viewpoint of occupational safety and health and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. That Act requires that employers and those who control workplaces must identify hazards in those workplaces, assess the risks to safety and health at work presented by those hazards and provide for appropriate preventive control measures in the safety statements related to that workplace. Risk identification and assessment means that anything in the workplace that could cause harm to employees, and other people (including customers, visitors and members of the public) must be carefully examined and where necessary protective measures should be put in place.
