Health and Safety Law
Forty three people died last year (2009) in workplace accidents in Ireland, according to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). That is almost one fatal accident per week. The figures for 2007 and 2008 were sixty seven and fifty seven respectively.
Each year an average of 20,000 workers suffer non-fatal injuries which result in more than four days’ absence from work (that is almost 400 per week). At least some of these injuries and deaths could have been avoided if proper health and safety procedures had been in place.
Health and Safety law is one of the fastest growing areas of the law in Ireland. In today's highly regulated and legislated environment it has never been more important for business owners to make health and safety an integral part of their business strategy. Ensuring compliance with the increasing number of regulations is a growing concern to businesses at all levels. Non-compliance can have serious personal consequences for an employer including naming and shaming, fines and even imprisonment. Inspections by the HSA can lead to their issuing enforcement notices to employers and in some cases to a workplace being closed down by order of the Court.
In these times it is essential to maintain high health and safety standards so as not to risk the financial burden that non-compliance brings. The current market and cost pressures mean that companies are now more than ever, focusing on what is essentially their legal responsibility and what is discretionary. Therefore it is paramount that you have a specialist solicitor advising you on every step to ensure you are complying with all existing and new legislation in this dynamic area of law.
At Naomi Gardiner Solicitors we aim to guide you through the mass of legislation and codes of practice in order to find out what you and your company must do in order to be compliant. This will avoid the penalties and financial costs of non compliance and will help you deal with situations where there has been an accident, a HSA inspection or a case taken against your company.
Naomi Gardiner Solicitors offers comprehensive advice on all aspects of health and safety issues across all industries including construction, transport, waste disposal, healthcare, energy, information technology and manufacturing. We believe that the setting up of proper practices, policies and procedures is the best way to minimise your business’ liability and exposure to prosecution.
In particular, we provide:
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- Health and Safety Audits:
- We will go through your current health and safety procedures and documentation. We will then advise you as to what we think should be done to ensure compliance with the legislation and to minimise the risk of any accidents occurring. If you wish to implement any of our recommendations we will be happy to guide and advise you on policies and procedures;
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- Advice on Safety Statements and Risk Assessment
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- Defence of claims:
- made against employers for breaching legislation;
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- Advice on Workplace Accidents:
- ranging from fatal accidents to minor incidents;
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- Food Safety (HACCP)
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- Advice on corporate governance and personal liability:
- of directors and managers; and
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- Advice on contractual documentation:
- and policies to reflect Health & Safety requirements.
