Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 May 2020
442. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of workplace inspections that have taken place by the Health and Safety Authority in meat factories since the Covid-19 emergency emerged in March 2020 to ensure worker protection by county in tabular form. [7834/20]
View answer451. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if factories and meat processing plants will be inspected by the Health and Safety Authority to ensure safeguarding of employees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7940/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 442 and 451 together.
The Health and Safety Authority’s annual programme of work is based on a risk assessment of sectors, with inspections targeted at sectors with higher levels of workplace fatalities and accidents. The food sector is a highly regulated sector with a high level of compliance with Health and Safety legislation. Thus, in any one year the Health and Safety Authority carries out a lower level of inspections in the food Sector compared to the construction or farming sectors where workplace fatalities and accidents are considerable higher.
In relation to COVID-19 specifically, infectious diseases are not reportable under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No. 370 of 2016) nor is there a requirement to notify the Health & Safety Authority if an employee contracts Covid19. Therefore, outbreaks of an infectious disease, such as Covid19, are in the first instance reportable to Medical Officer of Health/Director of Public Health and they report the outbreak to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, under the HSE, who move to put in place infection control measures.
The Health and Safety Authority has been involved in reviewing matters relating to the meat processing sector over the past number of weeks as it is a member of the National Outbreak Control Team (NOTC) headed up by the HSE. This team, which is led by the HSE, reports to the Department of Health and the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). The NOTC is working to address the issue of outbreaks in meat processing plants and has input from professionals in public health, environmental health, animal health and the Health and Safety Authority, in relation to occupational health and safety. The National Outbreak Control Team and local Outbreak Control Teams are in place to address outbreaks of COVID-19 and to recommend steps and measures to ensure that current and future outbreaks can be managed and brought under control as quickly as possible. COVID-19 is first and foremost a public health issue so the first step must always be ensuring that measures are in place to manage and prevent outbreaks not just for the workers involved but also for the wider community where such workers live.
The National Outbreak Control Team has devised detailed guidance specifically tailored to the meat industry. This guidance document, which was issued to all meat processing facilities on 15 May 2020 covers:
- Infection prevention and control measures to prevent cases and control outbreaks for example screening at entry to the site;
- Steps to be taken when an individual case is suspected or confirmed; and
- Additional steps to be taken when an outbreak has occurred.
Information on this is available on the HPSC website at this link.
Following the roll-out of the Return to Work Safely Protocol that preceded the start of Phase 1 of the reopening of the economy on 18th May last, over 500 onsite inspections (as of Friday 22nd May) were undertaken by the Health and Safety Authority last week across a range of industry sectors. These inspections included plants in the meat processing sector. In relation to complaints specifically about meat processing plants, the Authority received seven complaints up to May 20th covering four different operators. As the Health and Safety Authority receives complaints on a confidential basis, a breakdown by County would not be appropriate for this sector. As part of the work with the National and Local OCTs mentioned above, the Health and Safety Authority are following up on each of these complaints, including completion of onsite inspections. It is worth noting that the Department of Agriculture, who have an ongoing role in meat processing plants, is also a member of the National OCT and they too will be checking compliance with the Return to Work Safely Protocol in such plants in the future too.
The Health and Safety Authority’s Workplace Contact Unit is a confidential helpline for workers, employers and others to submit queries and complaints. This can be contacted by telephone 1890 289 389 and email wcu@hsa.ie. If any worker has a concern about Health and Safety in their workplace, whether that is in meat processing or elsewhere, they should contact the Health and Safety Authority Workplace Contact Unit.
