Effective Safety Management: The Business Argument
Effective Safety Management: The Business Argument ANDY TILLEARD EHS Consultant EazySAFE Ireland has a good track record for accidents in the workplace. Data shows that Ireland has the lowest standardised incidence rates (per 100,000 employees) of fatal accidents at work for 2018 and averaged rates from 2015 – 2017 at 0.45 and 0.96 respectively. However, if you were related to any of the people who had been killed at work in these time frames here…
Manual Handling
Manual Handling GEMMA COLLINS DOYLE EHS Consultant EazySAFE Back injuries and back pain are something that most people suffer during their lifetime. A lot of the time, back injuries happen in the workplace. In fact, according to the HSA manual handling accidents are the most common accidents (2019) and these accidents usually cause back injuries. So, it makes sense for any company to focus on reducing all manual handling risks as much as possible to ensure employees are…
Understanding Safety: What is smart PPE?
Understanding Safety: What is smart PPE? ANDY TILLEARD EHS Consultant EazySAFE PPE (personal protective equipment) has long been recognised as a useful tool in providing a barrier between a person and a hazard. We are all familiar with high visibility vests, hard hats and safety footwear which are probably the most common items of PPE used throughout the industry on a daily basis. Covid-19 has also raised our awareness of both PPE and RPE (respiratory protective equipment) in…
Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment GEMMA COLLINS DOYLE EHS Consultant EazySAFE We hear the term risk assessments bandied about all the time regarding health and safety. However, from my experience, many people are unaware of how important they are, what they are and how they really are the foundation of ensuring you are adhering to health and safety legislation and maintaining your health and safety management system. In simple terms, a risk assessment is a thorough examination of what, in a workplace, could cause harm,…
Planning Your Return to Work
Planning Your Return to work JENNY COLLINS EHS Consultant EazySAFE The Irish Government have issued an easing of COVID-19 restrictions with a phased return to the office, emphasising flexibility from 20 September 2021. This brings a lot of consideration and yet more change for Organisations. COVID-19 forced a mandatory ‘work from home’ arrangement from March 2020. Overnight, employers and employees had to create new ways of working and engaging from a distance, to regain autonomy…
Outline of Global Sustainability in OHS
Outline of Global Sustainability in OHS ANDY TILLEARD EHS Consultant EazySAFE What is sustainability? A common definition for sustainability, in general, is to ensure that we have "…ability to meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." It fundamentally relates to the available resources that we have and how we optimise these for today and tomorrow. It is an issue that has a history; for example,…
Fatigue in the workplace
Fatigue in the Workplace? ANDY TILLEARD EHS Consultant EazySAFE Many day-to-day hazards are easy to identify in the workplace; workplace vehicles, chemicals, noise and many others have physical characteristics which make them easy to recognise and assess. However, fatigue is a workplace hazard that is not always so easy to identify, but it can be present in the workplace all of the time to varying degrees and be embedded into the organisation's management and workforce. What makes…
Rebuilding the Workplace
Rebuilding the Workplace LISA QUINN O'FLAHERTY Solicitor Fitzsimons Redmond Never before have we had such a blank slate to shape our workplaces to suit the needs of all stakeholders. Office workers have kept businesses afloat over the last year and a half from their own homes. They have proven that the model where everybody works from a central office is both unnecessary and outdated. Workers have shown that targets can be met while working from…
Bullying and Harassment
Bullying and Harassment LISA QUINN O'FLAHERTY Solicitor Fitzsimons Redmond Bullying and harassment at work are risks to be monitored and mitigated. Workplaces that deal inappropriately with bullying leave themselves open to the high turnover of staff, lost productivity, absenteeism, civil claims in respect of stress, bullying and harassment and even claims for constructive dismissal. They may also find themselves in breach of Health and Safety legislation for failing to prevent stress-related injuries. As well as the impact on the…
Vaccinating against workplaces issues
Vaccinating against Workplace issues LISA QUINN O'FLAHERTY Solicitor Fitzsimons Redmond As businesses reopen, and employers contemplate bringing workers back to the physical workplace, there remains a duty to ensure a safe place of work for all employees and the people who come onto their premises. Precautions must be taken to protect workers and others from contracting Covid-19. One way of ensuring this is done safely is to request that all employees avail of a Covid-19 vaccination. It must be noted that the Department of Enterprise,…