Vol. 511 No. 6
142 Mr. Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to any research carried out on stress in the workplace; her views in this regard; the action, if any, she intends to take; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25433/99]
The Health and Safety Authority is the State body charged with responsibility for the administration, enforcement and promotion of all workplace health and safety legislation.
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989, is the principal legislation dealing with workplace health and safety. The 1989 Act places the primary "duty of care" for the safety, health and welfare at work of employees on the employer in the first instance. This applies to all workplace health and safety matters, including such issues as workplace stress, violence and bullying.
Under section 12 of the 1989 Act, every employer is obliged to prepare a written safety statement. This statement should be based on an identification of the hazards, and an assessment of the risks, to safety and health at the place of work and should also specify how the safety, health and welfare of workers is to be secured. The authority encourages all employers to use the process of preparing a safety statement to examine both the physical and psychological risks to workers, and to ensure that the workplace is structured and managed in such a way so as to ensure that workers are not placed under extreme levels of stress which may have a negative or detrimental effect on their physical and psychological well being.
The authority has produced a booklet on the prevention of stress at work and it is intended that this will be revised during the current year. A separate booklet on bullying at work is also available from the authority.
On the subject of workplace bullying, the Deputy may be aware that I recently set up a task force on the prevention of workplace bullying. The task force is being chaired by an independent chairperson – Dr. Eileen Doyle – and is operating under the auspices of the health and safety authority. The task force is examining workplace bullying in detail and is focusing on identifying the size of the problem and the employment sectors most at risk, as well as developing proposals for practical programmes and strategies, both to prevent workplace bullying, and to provide a more appropriate streamlined response from the relevant State agencies. The task force is due to report back to me in March 2000.
