Health and safety: Ireland employment law

Essential points

• Health and safety legislation is a distinct branch of legislation within the broad field of employment related legislation.
• More than 20 different acts of the Oireachtas (parliament) and more than 200 statutory instruments make up the body of health and safety legislation.
• The most important acts and statutory instruments are the framework Act, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007. Both apply across the spectrum of employment sectors.
• There is specific health and safety legislation relating to mines and quarries, dangerous substances, the carriage of dangerous goods by road, railways and chemicals.
• As well as acts and statutory instruments, there are a number of codes of practice which have a legal status.
• A code with significant cross sectoral relevance is the Code of Practice on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work.
• While the various acts and statutory instruments are national measures, modern Irish health and safety legislation is derived from European directives and, while some details may be different, any person from another member state of the European Union will find that the legislation is similar to that in their own country.