Dessie Ellis
Question:54. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of health and safety inspections undertaken last year and the target for inspections in the coming year. [33513/13]
View answerWednesday, 10 July 2013
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The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is the national statutory body with responsibility for enforcing occupational safety and health law, promoting and encouraging accident prevention, and providing information and advice to all companies, organisations and individuals. The Authority is also the national Competent Authority for REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) and other chemicals legislation. It operates under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Chemicals Acts 2008-2010. The aim of the Authority is to make occupational safety, health and welfare an integral part of doing business in every Irish workplace and to ensure that the manufacture and use of chemicals in Ireland do not affect human health or the environment.
One of the ways the Authority attempts to achieve its aim is through the implementation of its national programme of workplace inspections. Details of the Authority’s national inspection programmes are outlined in its annual Programmes of Work, which are submitted to me as Minister for approval and published on the Authority’s website (www.hsa.ie). The Authority carried out 13,835 workplace inspections in 2012 and aims to carry out 12,850 such inspections in 2013. Further details on the Authority’s 2012 inspection programme, including information on the numbers of inspections (including investigations) undertaken in different sectors of the economy are available in its 2012 Annual Report, which is available to download at www.hsa.ie. Similar information in relation to the sector-by-sector breakdown planned for its 2013 Programme of Work is also available on the HSA website.