Safety Representatives and Employee Consultation in Ireland: Employer Guide

If you employ people in Ireland, you have a legal duty to consult them on safety, health and welfare, and they have a right to choose a safety representative to speak for them. This guide explains what the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 says about safety representatives and consultation in Ireland, what a safety committee looks like, and what it means in practice for a Dublin employer. It is general information, not legal advice.

Two separate ideas: consultation and safety representatives

The Act deals with these in neighbouring sections. Section 26 puts the duty to consult on the employer. Section 25 gives employees the right to select and appoint a safety representative. The two connect, but the first is your obligation and the second is the employees' choice. The text of both sections referred to in this guide was read on the Irish Statute Book; we could not confirm from the page whether it shows the enacted or the current revised wording. The Act has been amended since 2005, so check the current Revised Act for any later changes.

What the employer must consult on (section 26)

Under section 26, to promote safety measures and check how well they work, the employer must consult employees to make arrangements for effective cooperation. The employer must also consult employees, their safety representatives, or both, in advance and in good time, on a list of matters. According to the text, these include:

• measures that may significantly affect safety, health and welfare;
• hazard identification and risk assessment;
• risk prevention activities;
• preparation of the safety statement;
• information the employer must give employees;
• records of accidents and dangerous occurrences;
• planning and organisation of safety training;
• planning and introduction of new technologies; and
• the designation of employees to carry out particular safety duties, and the appointment of competent persons.

Employees in turn have a right to make representations to the employer and to consult them on these matters. The employer must consider those representations and, as far as reasonably practicable, act on them. Employees involved in consultation must be given reasonable time off, without loss of pay, for training and to carry out their functions.

The text of section 26 on the Irish Statute Book does not set a minimum number of employees below which the consultation duty falls away. Two items on the list are worth noting for modern workplaces: consultation covers the safety statement and the introduction of new technologies, so a new system or process is a prompt to talk to staff before it goes live, not after. Consultation also covers the planning of safety training, which links to the wider duties in our guide to HSA mandatory training requirements.

Safety representatives (section 25)

Employees may select and appoint a safety representative from among themselves to consult the employer on safety, health and welfare. By agreement with the employer, they may appoint more than one. The Act describes what a representative may do, which includes:

• inspecting the workplace, after giving reasonable notice or immediately after an accident, dangerous occurrence or imminent danger;
• investigating accidents and dangerous occurrences, and (after reasonable notice) employee complaints;
• accompanying a Health and Safety Authority inspector on a routine inspection, and in some cases an accident investigation at the inspector’s discretion;
• making representations to the employer, and making oral or written representations to inspectors; and
• consulting and liaising with other safety representatives in the same undertaking.

The employer and the representative agree the frequency or schedule of routine inspections, and the employer may not unreasonably refuse that agreement. The employer must consider the representative’s representations and, as far as reasonably practicable, act on them. The employer must give the representative reasonable time off, without loss of pay, for ongoing training and to carry out the role. When an inspector inspects the workplace, the employer must tell the safety representative.

An information sheet from the Health and Safety Authority (dated February 2017) adds that a representative has no duties, as opposed to functions, beyond those that apply to employees generally, and that employers must provide representatives and committee members with the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary for their safety and health, with time off for training without loss of earnings. It also says representatives are entitled to copies of improvement or prohibition notices issued by inspectors. For how those notices work, see our guide to HSA improvement and prohibition notices.

Safety committees

Where employees want one, the Act provides for a safety committee. Schedule 4 to the Act says employees may select and appoint members, and that if safety representatives have been appointed, at least one of them must be among those selected. Other points from Schedule 4:

• the committee has a minimum and maximum size linked to workforce numbers, and the number of employer appointees depends on the size of the committee;
• the quorum is set by the committee but cannot be fewer than three;
• the employer may attend meetings in person or send nominees, and on the first meeting must give members the safety statement as soon as it is available; and
• unless an agreement says otherwise, meetings can be held in normal working hours without loss of pay, provided they are no more often than once every three months (except in an emergency), last no more than an hour, have a quorum, and do not disrupt the efficient running of the workplace.

Section 26 also says that where a committee meeting Schedule 4 exists by agreement, consultation within it can satisfy the consultation duty to the extent agreed. A committee is therefore one way to consult, not an additional layer of duty.

Protection from penalisation

Section 27 of the Act protects employees from penalisation. As summarised on the Revised Acts version, the protected activities include following safety law, exercising rights under it, raising safety, health or welfare complaints, and acting as a safety representative. Penalisation covers things such as suspension, dismissal, demotion, pay cuts and altered hours. A dismissal that results wholly or mainly from penalisation of this kind is deemed unfair under the unfair dismissal legislation. The page did not display a last-updated date.

A practical approach for Dublin employers

The following are our suggestions, not legal requirements:

• Write down how you consult. A short note of what you raised, when, and what employees said helps show consultation happened in good time.
• Build consultation into change. Before moving premises, changing shift patterns, or introducing new equipment or software, add a safety conversation to the project plan.
• Agree the inspection schedule early. If staff appoint a representative, agree a regular inspection routine rather than negotiating each visit.
• Plan training and time off. The Act expects reasonable paid time off for training, so build that into rotas.
• Cover multiple sites and shifts. If you have staff across several Dublin locations or shifts, consider how each group can raise issues.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

Does an employer have to appoint a safety representative?

Not under the text of section 25 on the Irish Statute Book. It is the employees who may select and appoint a safety representative from among themselves. The employer’s separate duty is to consult employees, and their safety representatives where there are any, under section 26.

Do we need a safety committee?

Schedule 4 describes committees that employees may select where they want one. Section 26 says consultation within an agreed committee can satisfy the consultation duty to the extent agreed. The Act text on the Irish Statute Book does not say every employer must have one.

Does the employer pay the safety representative for time spent on the role?

The Act says the employer must give the safety representative reasonable time off, without loss of pay, for ongoing training and to carry out their functions. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances.

Can I discipline someone for raising safety concerns?

Section 27 protects employees from penalisation for matters such as raising safety complaints or acting as a safety representative. Treat any proposed action against someone who has raised a concern with great care and take advice first.

Consulting early, keeping simple records and agreeing practical arrangements with any safety representative will usually serve a Dublin workplace better than waiting for a problem to force the conversation.