Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 December 2020
83. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if Covid-19 will be recognised as an occupational illness in view of the fact that healthcare workers make up almost one fifth of Covid-19 cases in Ireland; the analysis his Department has carried out into the impact of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41936/20]
View answerThere are already established reporting mechanisms in place for COVID-19 infections in Ireland. All COVID-19 infections are firstly reported to Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health and to Health Protection Surveillance Centre/Health Service Executive, as with other public health infectious diseases.
The current reporting obligation on employers under occupational safety and health legislation is such that employers are required to report to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) all workplace accidents that result in more than 3 days' absence. This requirement to report does not apply to infectious disease, other illnesses or mental health impairment as it is not always possible to directly attribute these health conditions to that workplace. As COVID-19 is an infectious disease which can be caught in any location, it cannot always be reliably associated with a work activity.
Reporting mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that the HSA is made aware of workplace clusters of COVID-19 through an agreement with the HSE to share information on COVID-19 outbreaks in workplaces especially in high-risk sectors. The HSA also participates on national and local outbreak teams which enables it to respond to particular workplace clusters.
Importantly , the Biological Agents regulations have now been updated to specifically include SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. This creates a strict reporting obligation on employers to report the infection of workers exposed to the virus as part of certain work activities. We have all made huge sacrifices to limit the spread of the virus, but none so much as our healthcare workers and those that work in our labs, processing tests and researching the virus. These new regulations are designed to put in place even more protections for workers who are employed in those settings to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep them safe.
The HSA is currently preparing a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on the matter of making COVID-19 a reportable illness to the authority. The RIA will assess the feasibility and impact of introducing a statutory requirement for employers to report to the HSA, infections of COVID-19 that are attributable to work activity.
