Safety, Health and Welfare At Work (General Application) Regulations, 1993

JurisdictionIreland

S.I. No. 44 of 1993.

SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK (GENERAL APPLICATION) REGULATIONS, 1993

ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS

Regulation

Part I:

Interpretation and General

1-4

Part II:

General Safety and Health Provisions

5-15

Part III:

Workplace

16-17

Part IV:

Use of Work Equipment

18-20

Part V:

Provision of Personal Protective Equipment

21-26

Part VI:

Manual Handling of Loads

27-28

Part VII:

Work with Display Screen Equipment

29-32

Part VIII:

Electricity

33-35

Part IX:

First Aid

54-57

Part X:

Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrence

58-63

S.I. No. 44 of 1993.

SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK (GENERAL APPLICATION) REGULATIONS, 1993

INDEX

PART I

INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL

Regulation

1. Short Title and Commencement.

2. Interpretation.

3. Application to Certain Public Service Activities.

4. Self Employed Persons, Fixed Term Employees and Temporary Employees.

PART II

GENERAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PROVISIONS

5. General Duties of Employer.

6. Duty to Co-Operate.

7. Financial Cost.

8. Protective and Preventive Services.

9. Emergency Duties.

10. Risk Assessment.

11. Information.

12. Consultation and Participation of Employees.

13. Training.

14. Duties of Employees.

15. Health Surveillance.

PART III

WORKPLACE

16. Interpretation for Part III.

17. Duties of Employer.

PART IV

USE OF WORK EQUIPMENT

18. Interpretation for Part IV.

19. Duties of Employer.

20. Compliance with the Requirements of the Fifth Schedule.

PART V

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

21. Duties of Employer.

22. Assessment of Personal Protective Equipment.

23. Conditions of Use and Compatibility.

24. Maintenance and Replacement.

25. Personal Use.

26. Information, Training and Instruction.

PART VI

MANUAL HANDLING OF LOADS

27. Interpretation for Part VI.

28. Duties of Employer.

PART VII

DISPLAY SCREEN EQUIPMENT

29. Interpretation for Part VII.

30. Non-application of this Part.

31. Duties of Employer.

32. Provision of Eye Tests and Corrective Appliances.

PART VIII

ELECTRICITY

33. Interpretation for Part VIII.

34. Application of this Part.

35. Duties of Employer.

36. Suitability of Electrical Equipment.

37. Adverse or Hazardous Environments.

38. Identification and Marking.

39. Protection against Electric Shock in Normal Conditions.

40. Protection against Electric Shock in Fault Conditions.

41. Portable Equipment.

42. Connections.

43. Overcurrent Protection.

44. Switching and Isolation.

45. Precautions for Work on Equipment made Dead.

46. Work Activities and Protective Equipment.

47. Working Space, Access and Lighting.

48. Persons to be Competent to Prevent Danger.

49. Testing and Inspection.

50. Earth Leakage Protection (High Voltage).

51. Substation.

52. Fencing of Outdoor Equipment.

53. Overhead Lines.

PART IX

FIRST-AID

54. Interpretation for Part IX.

55. Application of this Part.

56. Duties of Employer.

57. First-Aid Rooms.

PART X

NOTIFICATION OF ACCIDENTS AND DANGEROUS OCCURRENCES

58. Interpretation of Part X.

59. Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences.

60. Keeping of Records.

61. Application of this Part.

62. Defence in Proceedings.

63. Examination and Tests.

FIRST SCHEDULE

General Principles of Prevention.

SECOND SCHEDULE

Requirements for all Places of Work.

THIRD SCHEDULE

Requirements for Places of Work used for the first time after the 31st day of December, 1992 and for Places of Work which undergo Modifications, Extensions or Conversions after that date.

FOURTH SCHEDULE

Requirements for Places of Work already in use before the 1st day of January, 1993.

FIFTH SCHEDULE

Requirements for Work Equipment provided before the 31st day of December, 1992.

SIXTH SCHEDULE

Non-Exhaustive Guide List of Activities and Sectors of Activity which may require the Provision of Personal Protective Equipment.

SEVENTH SCHEDULE

Non-Exhaustive Guide List of Items of Personal Protective Equipment.

EIGHTH SCHEDULE

Reference Factors for the Manual Handling of Loads.

NINTH SCHEDULE

Manual Handling of Loads — Individual Risk Factors.

TENTH SCHEDULE

Minimum Requirements for all Display Screen Equipment.

ELEVENTH SCHEDULE

Minimum Requirements for Workstations first put into Service after the 31st day of December, 1992 and for all Workstations after the 31st day of December, 1996.

TWELFTH SCHEDULE

Dangerous Occurrences.

S.I. No. 44 of 1993.

SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK (GENERAL APPLICATION) REGULATIONS, 1993.

I, RUAIRÍ QUINN, Minister for Enterprise and Employment, in exercise of 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 (15), (20), (21), (23) to (27), (30) and (32) to (37) 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 after consultation with the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health, and being satisfied, in relation to Regulation 3, that the application of the relevant statutory provisions mentioned in that Regulation is impracticable, hereby make the following Regulations:—

PART IINTERPRETATION AND GENERAL

1. Short Title and Commencement

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations, 1993.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 22nd day of February, 1993.

2. Interpretation

(1) In these Regulations—

"the Act" means the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 (No. 7 of 1989);

"approved" means approved in writing for the time being by the Authority or conforming with a specification in writing by the Authority;

"fixed-term employee" means an employee whose employment is governed by a contract of employment for a fixed term or for a specified purpose (being a purpose of a kind that the duration of the contract was limited but was, at the time of its making, incapable of precise ascertainment);

"personal protective equipment" means all equipment designed to be worn or held by an employee for protection against one or more hazards likely to endanger the employee's safety and health at work, and any addition or accessory designed to meet this objective, but does not include—

( a ) ordinary working clothes and uniforms not specifically designed to protect the safety and health of an employee,

( b ) personal protective equipment for the purposes of road transport,

( c ) sports equipment,

( d ) self-defence equipment or deterrent equipment,

( e ) portable devices for detecting and signalling risks and nuisances;

"temporary employee" means an employee in a temporary employment business which is the employer of that employee and where the employee is assigned to work for and under the control of another undertaking making use of his services;

"temporary employment business" means a business which provides temporary employees to other undertakings making use of the services of such employees;

"work equipment" means any machine, apparatus, tool or installation used at work.

(2) In these Regulations a reference to a paragraph is to a paragraph in the Regulation in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulation is intended, and a reference to a Regulation or a Schedule is to a Regulation of, or a Schedule to, these Regulations, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulation or Schedule is intended.

3. Application to Certain Public Service Activities

The relevant statutory provisions shall apply to members of the Defence Forces except when they are:—

( a ) On active service as defined in Section 5 of the Defence Act, 1954 , (No. 18 of 1954) or deemed to be on active service, as defined in Section 4 (1) of the Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1960 (No. 44 of 1960);

( b ) Engaged in action in the course of operational duties at sea;

( c ) Engaged in operations in Aid to the Civil Power; or

( d ) Engaged in training directly associated with any of the above mentioned activities.

4. Self-Employed Persons, Fixed-Term Employees and Temporary Employees

(1) These Regulations shall apply to a self-employed person as they apply to an employer and as if that self-employed person was an employer and his own employee.

(2) Any duty imposed by these Regulations on an employer in respect of any of his employees shall also apply in respect of the use by him of the services of a fixed-term employee or a temporary employee.

PART IIGENERAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PROVISIONS

5. General Duties of Employer

It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure that—

( a ) in taking measures necessary for the safety and health protection of employees these measures take account of changing circumstances and the general principles specified in the First Schedule;

( b ) the risks to the safety and health of employees (including those related to the choice of work equipment, the use of any substance and the fitting out of a place of work) are periodically evaluated;

( c ) taking account of the most recent evaluation under paragraph (b) any necessary steps are taken to—

(i) ensure any improvement considered necessary in the level of protection afforded to employees in relation to safety and health, and

(ii) integrate the measures referred to in paragraph (a) into all the work activities under the control of the employer and at all levels of responsibility in the undertaking;

( d ) for the duration of the assignment of any fixed-term employee or temporary employee working in his...

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