Safety, Health and Welfare At Work (Construction) Regulations, 2001

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 2001
• Citation: IR SI 481/2001

ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS Regulation Interpretation and General 1-2 Design and Management 3-8 General Duties of Contractors and Others Safety of Workplaces 9-14 Safety of Workplaces 15-20 Excavations, Shafts, Earthworks, Underground Works and Tunnels 21-26 Cofferdams and Caissons 27-30 Compressed Air 31-34 Explosives 35 Dangerous or Unhealthy Atmospheres 36-38 Work on or Adjacent to Water 39-40 Transport, Earthmoving and Materials Handling Machinery, and Locomotives 41-46 Demolition 47-50 Working at Heights 51-79 Lifting Appliances 80-104 Chains, Ropes and Lifting Gear 105-113 Special Provisions as to Hoists 114-118 Carriage of Persons and Secureness of Loads 119-123 Miscellaneous 124-128 Application of Regulations 129

SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK (CONSTRUCTION) REGULATIONS, 2001

INDEX

PART 1

Interpretation and General

1. Citation and Commencement

2. Interpretation

PART 2

Design and Management

3. General Duties of Client

4. Duties of Project Supervisor appointed for the design stage.

5. Duties of Designers.

6. Duties of Project Supervisor Appointed for the Construction Stage.

7. Site Safety Representative

8. Notification of Projects to the Authority

PART 3

General Duties of Contractors and Others

9. Duties of Contractors

10. Appointment of Safety Officers

11. Erection and Installation of Plant and Equipment

12. Information

13. Consultation

14. Duties of Employees and Other Persons at Work

PART 4

Safety of Workplaces

15. General.

16. Protection from falling material

17. Lighting of Work Places.

18. Projecting Nails and Loose Material.

19. Construction of Temporary Structures.

20. Avoidance of Danger from Collapse of Structure

PART 5

Excavations, Shafts, Earthworks, Underground Works and Tunnels

21. General

22. Inspection and Examination.

23. Supervision and Execution of Shorting and Other Work.

24. Excavations etc. Likely to Reduce Security of a Structure.

25. Fencing of Excavations, etc.

26. Safeguarding Edges of Excavations, etc.

PART 6

Cofferdams and Caissons

27. Construction and Maintenance.

28. Means of Egress in Case of Flooding.

29. Supervision of Work and Inspection of Material.

30. Inspections and Examinations.

PART 7

Compressed Air

31. Application of Part 7.

32. General.

33. Plant and Equipment.

34. Minimum Requirements.

PART 8

Explosives

35. Explosives.

PART 9

Dangerous or Unhealthy Atmospheres

36. Health Hazards.

37. Disposal of Waste.

38. Internal Combustion Engines or Dangerous Gas.

PART 10

Work on or Adjacent to Water

39. Transport by Water.

40. Prevention of Drowning.

PART 11

Transport, Earthmoving and Materials Handling Machinery, and Locomotives

41. General.

42. Rails and Rail Tracks.

43. Clearance.

44. Riding in Insecure Positions on Vehicles, etc.

45. Vehicles Near Edge of Excavations, etc.

46. Protection of Driver.

PART 12

Demolition

47. Application of Part 12.

48. General.

49. Fire and Flooding.

50. Precautions in Connection with Demolition.

PART 13

Working at Heights

51. Provision of Scaffolds, etc.

52. Supervision of Work and Inspection of Material.

53. Construction and Material.

54. Defective Material.

55. Maintenance of Scaffolds.

56. Partly Erected or Dismantled Scaffolds.

57. Standards or Uprights, Ledgers and Putlogs.

58. Stability of Scaffolds.

59. Slung Scaffolds.

60. Cantilever, Jib, Figure and Bracket Scaffolds.

61. Support for Scaffolds, etc.

62. Suspended Scaffolds (not power operated).

63. Boatswain's Chairs, Cages, Skip's etc. (Not power operated).

64. Trestle Scaffolds.

65. Inspection of Scaffolds, Boatswain's Chairs etc.

66. Scaffolds used by Employees of Different Contractors.

67. Construction of Working Platforms, Gangways, Runs and Stairs.

68. Decking of Working Platforms, Gangways and Runs.

69. Guard-rails and toe-boards at working platforms and workplaces.

70. Guard-rails, etc for Gangways, Runs and Stairs.

71. Platforms, Gangways, Runs and Stairs, etc. to Afford Safe Foothold.

72. Construction and maintenance of ladders and folding step-ladders.

73. Use of ladders and folding step-ladders.

74. Openings, Corners, Breaks, Edges and Open Joisting.

75. Exceptions from Regulation 74.

76. Sloping roofs.

77. Work on or Near Fragile Materials.

78. Loads on Scaffolds.

79. Prevention of Falls and Provision of Safety Nets and Harnesses.

PART 14

Lifting Appliances

80. Construction, Maintenance and Inspection.

81. Support, Anchoring, Fixing and Erecting.

82. Precautions where Lifting Appliance has Travelling or Slewing Motion.

83. Platforms for Crane Drivers and Signaller.

84. Cabins for Drivers.

85. Drums and Pulleys.

86. Brakes, Controls, Safety Devices, etc.

87. Safe Means of Access.

88. Poles or Beams Supporting Pulley Blocks or Gin Wheels.

89. Stability of Lifting Appliances.

90. Rail mounted cranes.

91. Mounting of cranes.

92. Cranes with Derricking Jibs.

93. Restriction of use of cranes.

94. Erection of Cranes under Supervision.

95. Competent Persons to Operate Lifting Appliances and Give Signals.

96. Signals.

97. Testing and examination of lifting appliances.

98. Marking of Safe Working Loads.

99. Indication of Safe Working Load on Jib Cranes.

100. Excavators used as Cranes.

101. Load not to Exceed Safe Working Load.

102. Precautions on Raising or Lowering Loads.

103. Scotch and Guy Derrick Cranes.

104. Cranes etc. in Factories and Other Premises.

PART 15

Chains, Ropes and Lifting Gear

105. Construction, testing, examination and safe working load.

106. Testing of Chains, Rings, etc. Altered or Repaired by Welding.

107. Hooks.

108. Slings.

109. Edges of Load not to come into Contact with Sling, etc.

110. Knotted Chains, etc.

111. Examination of Chains, Ropes and Lifting Gear.

112. Annealing of Chains and Lifting Gear.

113. Delivery of Loads with Lifting Gear Attached.

PART 16

Special Provisions as to Hoists

114. Safety of Hoistways, Platforms and Cages.

115. Operation of Hoist.

116. Winches.

117. Safe Working Load and Marking of Hoists.

118. Test and Examination of Hoists.

PART 17

Carriage of Persons and Secureness of Loads

119. Carrying Persons by Means of Lifting Appliances.

120. Hoists Carrying Persons.

121. Hoists Forming Part of the Permanent Equipment.

122. Secureness of Loads.

123. Mobile Elevating Work Platforms.

PART 18

Miscellaneous

124. Installations, Machinery, Equipment.

125. Wet Paint or Cement Wash on Ironwork or Steelwork.

126. Helmets or Crowns for Pile Driving.

127. Keeping of records.

128. Revocations.

PART 19

Application of Regulations

129. Application

SCHEDULES

First Schedule Particulars to be notified to the Authority before construction begins. Second Schedule Non-exhaustive list of work involving particular risks to the safety and health of persons at work. Third Schedule Requirements to be applied as regards the general principles of prevention. Fourth Schedule Minimum health and safety requirements for construction sites. Fifth Schedule Minimum requirements for on-site indoor workstations. Sixth Schedule Minimum requirements for work in compressed air. Seventh Schedule Minimum requirements for an excavator or loader used as a crane. Eighth Schedule FÁS Safe Pass Programme Ninth Schedule FÁS Construction Skills Certification. Tenth Schedule Procedure for selection of Safety representatives.

I, TOM KITT, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 28 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 (No. 7 of 1989), in relation to the matters set out in paragraphs 1 to 6, 8, 9, 11 to 15, 19 to 30, 32, 33, 35 and 36 of the Fourth Schedule of that Act, and the Labour (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 18 of 1993 ), and the Enterprise and Employment (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) (No. 2) Order, 1995 ( S.I. No. 43 of 1995 ) and after consultation with the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health, and for the purpose of giving further effect to Council Directive 92/57/EEC1 , hereby make the following regulations:

PART 1 INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL

Citation and Commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations, 2001.

(2) Except as specified in paragraph (3), these Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of January 2002.

(3) (a) In the case of persons employed in construction work for the first time, the provisions of Regulations 6(5) and 9(3) shall apply from the 1st day of January 2002.

(b) Where construction work on a construction site commences on or after the 1st day of May 2002, Regulations 6(5) and 9(3) shall apply from that date for all workers employed in construction work on that site.

(c) In respect of “scaffolding - basic”, designated in paragraph 1 of the Ninth Schedule, Regulations 6(6) and 9(4) shall come into operation on the 1st day of January 2002.

(d) In respect of “scaffolding-advanced”, “tower crane operation”, “slinging/signalling” and “telescopic handler operation” designated in paragraph 1 of the Ninth Schedule, Regulations 6(6) and 9(4) shall come into operation on the 1st day of July 2002.

(e) In all other cases, Regulations 6(5), 6(6), 9(3) and 9(4) shall come into operation on the 1st day of June 2003.

2. (1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires -

“the Act” means the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 (No. 7 of...