The Health and Safety Authority, under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, has the lead role in coordinating the cross- Government response to checking workplace compliance with the Work Safely Protocol. The Work Safely Protocol is a revision of the Return to Work Safely Protocol published in May 2020. The revised Protocol incorporates the current advice on the Public Health measures needed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community and workplaces and sets out detailed guidance for all workplaces, including checklists for inspections.
The Protocol is a general document applicable to all sectors. It sets out the minimum measures required in every place of work to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to facilitate the reopening of workplaces following temporary closures and the ongoing safe operation of those workplace. Further information on the Protocol is available at:- www.gov.ie/en/publication/bb7fd-work-safely-protocol/
The Health and Safety Authority has continued to carry out compliance checks across all workplace sectors, in particular in food processing plants, recognising these areas are particularly high risk. There have been very close interactions with this sector throughout the pandemic, to ensure they are in compliance with Covid guidelines. In addition, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine veterinary inspectors and other inspectorate staff are carrying out compliance checks in the various food businesses under their remit. The level of compliance found by the Health and Safety Authority and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine inspections continues to be high in food plants.
In addition to the above, a programme of serial testing of employees continues to be carried out by the HSE in food businesses with more than 50 employees. That testing programme is now in its 16th cycle of 4 weekly testing in food plants.
My Department and the HSE launched a COVID-19 communications campaign to encourage safe behaviours as we learn to live with COVID-19. The campaign encourages people to continue the safe behaviours of hand washing, physical distancing, wearing face coverings, covering coughs and sneezes and downloading the COVID Tracker app.
The campaign also includes radio adverts on all Irish commercial stations and on Spotify, Youtube, and social media messages on all HSE and Department of Health social media accounts. The campaign has been extended to include TV advertising, and spots on online players.
Further information on the campaigns can be found at:
www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/newsfeatures/covid19-updates/partner-resources
