Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
618. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Business; Enterprise and Innovation the number of enforcement actions, civil or criminal, initiated by the Health and Safety Authority in respect of violations of health and safety in the workplace on fishing vessels since the atypical scheme for non-EU migrant fishing crew was established. [54502/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the provisions of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (No. 10 of 2005) a fishing vessel is considered a place of work and as such employers and employees must comply with their respective responsibilities under that Act while at work. The Health and Safety Authority, an agency under the aegis of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, is the enforcement agency under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
Since the introduction of the atypical scheme for Non-EU Migrant Fishing Crew in February 2016, the Health and Safety Authority has carried out 73 inspections of fishing vessels. These inspections were carried out to monitor compliance with the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 with particular emphasis on the requirement to carry out appropriate risk assessments for the fishing tasks being carried out and to reflect these assessments into the Safety Statement which is required for all workplaces. In this regard, the Authority provided the skipper of each vessel under inspection with a copy of the fishing vessel safety statement template and a copy of the Authority’s Guidance “Managing Health and Safety in Fishing”. The level and nature of the health and safety training of fishermen was also examined by the Authority during inspections to ensure that it was appropriate to their needs, particularly in the case of non-nationals.
As a result of these inspections the Authority served 7 improvement Notices for breaches of health and safety laws and an additional 40 Reports of Inspection were issued in relation to more minor health and safety breaches. The absence of safety statements was the main concern of Authority Inspectors, as well as the absence of work specific risk assessments for fishing activities.
As the Authority inspects all fishing vessels no matter what their size is, they are not in a position to say how many of the 73 vessels were covered by the atypical scheme for non-EU migrant fishing crew, i.e. vessels greater than 15 metres.
