Workplace Violence and Aggression in Ireland: Employer Duties and HSA Guidance

If your staff deal with customers, clients, patients, pupils or the public, violence and aggression is a hazard you need to manage. Irish employers have a general duty under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 to protect employees, and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) publishes guidance on how to apply it to work-related violence. This guide explains what the Act and the HSA guidance say, in plain terms, for general workplaces in Dublin and across Ireland.

What counts as work-related violence and aggression?

The HSA's general guidance, Guidance on Managing the Risk of Work-Related Violence and Aggression, describes it as any incident where staff are "abused, threatened or assaulted" in circumstances connected with their work, posing an explicit or implicit challenge to their safety, wellbeing or health. It gives examples of both kinds:

• Physical: spitting, pushing, hitting, punching, or an attack with a weapon or object.
• Non-physical: verbal abuse, threats or threatening gestures.

The guidance also notes that violence and/or harassment in any setting, including a workplace, is a criminal offence and may be subject to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. It leaves out conflict between colleagues, such as bullying and harassment, because the HSA covers that separately. For that side of the picture, see our guide to the bullying at work code of practice and complaint process.

The HSA guidance says it is aimed at employers and employees in all sectors, and that healthcare has its own sector guidance. This post stays general and does not cover healthcare-specific arrangements.

What does the 2005 Act require of employers?

The Irish Statute Book text of the 2005 Act sets out several duties that apply directly to violence and aggression, even though these provisions do not name violence and aggression.

• Section 8, general duties of employer. The employer must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of employees. Section 8(2) says this includes managing work activities to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, improper conduct or behaviour likely to put employees at risk, and providing the information, instruction, training and supervision needed.
• Section 8 also covers safe work systems, emergency plans and procedures for emergencies or serious and imminent danger, and obtaining a competent person where necessary.
• Section 12, persons other than employees. The employer must run the undertaking so that, so far as is reasonably practicable, people at the workplace who are not employees are not exposed to risks to their safety, health or welfare. This matters because the person behind an incident may be a customer or a visitor, and other customers and visitors may be affected too.
• Section 19, hazard identification and risk assessment. The employer must identify hazards, assess the risks and keep a written risk assessment. It must be reviewed where there has been a significant change or there is reason to think it is no longer valid, and updated where appropriate. Section 19(4) requires the employer to put in place any improvements the latest assessment shows are needed.
• Section 20, safety statement. The Act requires a written safety statement based on the section 19 assessment; check the section itself for what it must contain.
• Section 13, duties of employees. Employees must take reasonable care, cooperate, attend required training and report promptly any work that is or may be unsafe. That last point is why reporting systems for incidents are worth building.

Check the current text of these sections on the Irish Statute Book or the Law Reform Commission's Revised Acts site before relying on them. For how the risk assessment and safety statement fit together, see our guide to safety statements and risk assessment under the 2005 Act.

How to assess the risk

The HSA guidance says violence is a hazard in any workplace where staff interact with the public, clients or customers, and that it must be risk assessed. It lists ways of identifying the risk:

• reviewing the workplace, the way work is organised and the tasks involved;
• discussing work practices with staff;
• examining incident records;
• learning from similar workplaces; and
• staying vigilant on an ongoing basis.

It adds that the process can be informal (discussion at team or safety meetings) or formal (questionnaires or audits), should involve and consult employees, and that known risks must be communicated to them.

Risk factors the HSA lists

• The aggressor: a history of violence, misreading ordinary situations as threatening, confusion or illness, alcohol and drugs, or an expectation of confrontation, for example in disputes over money or services.
• Working alone: isolation increases vulnerability.
• Cash handling: there is a robbery risk even with small amounts.
• Long waiting times: these can raise frustration among people in a queue.

The guidance names occupations it regards as higher risk, including personal and protective service workers, teaching professionals, drivers and mobile plant operators, legal and social associate professionals, and salespersons. A practical approach: treat that list as a prompt, not a limit. Any role where a member of the public can become frustrated, such as reception, billing queries or complaints handling, is worth looking at.

Control measures

The HSA guidance says employers should first try to eliminate the hazard and, where that is not possible, consider other measures. Its examples fall into groups.

Organisation and culture

• Promote a culture that does not accept violence or aggression, and display signs stating that it is not tolerated.
• Encourage reporting, investigate incidents and review the controls.

The workplace itself

• Design layouts so staff are not isolated with customers; use screens and partitions where needed.
• Use good lighting (which also helps CCTV), coded door locks and secure staff refuges.
• Remove items that could be thrown or used as weapons.

Systems of work

• Have senior or experienced staff available for referral, and consider on-site security.
• Provide communication systems such as radios or mobile phones, and emergency code phrases.
• Consider travel to and from work and movement around the grounds for night workers and lone workers.

Where staff work alone or out of the premises, the same logic applies. The HSA's healthcare guidance makes a point worth repeating for any employer: communication devices alone do not prevent incidents, they need to sit alongside robust procedures. Pressure on staff from difficult interactions can also feed into wellbeing, which our guide to work-related stress and the HSA's Work Positive approach covers.

Training, information and instruction

The HSA guidance says employees should learn how to avoid violence and what to do if it occurs. Topics it mentions include recognising and avoiding violent situations, distraction and empathy techniques, conflict resolution and non-confrontational approaches. It says break-away and physical restraint training may be considered depending on the risk assessment, and that staff must be trained in any controls in place, such as panic buttons and alarms. It also gives de-escalation advice: do not challenge the aggressor, keep calm, make sure the aggressor knows there is support on site for the employee, and never turn your back on a potential assailant but back away to a place of safety.

The HSA's healthcare guidance adds a line that applies to every sector: training is not a substitute for safe systems of work.

After an incident: support, recording and reporting

• First aid and support. The general guidance says adequate first aid and emergency treatment must be available. Employers should offer support and counselling, bearing in mind that an employee may not be aware of the change caused by the incident, make reasonable efforts to ensure that affected employees access appropriate support, and provide it soon after the incident. It can be informal (colleagues) or formal (an employee assistance programme).
• Internal recording. The HSA recommends recording all incidents on a suitable form. Its sample, which is not statutory, covers who was involved, what happened, why it may have happened, where, when, which protective systems failed, and completion by both the employee and the supervisor. It notes that data protection law applies to details recorded about individuals.
• Reporting to the HSA. A reportable injury must be reported to the HSA; the HSA's health and social care guide says this can be done online or by using an IR1 form available from the HSA. The HSA's healthcare guidance describes reportable cases as those where an employee cannot do normal work for more than three consecutive days, to be reported within 10 working days. The general guidance points out that only injuries of that kind are reportable, so many incidents never reach HSA figures. Check the current reporting rules and forms on the HSA website.
• Gardaí. The general guidance says incidents may also need to be reported to An Garda Siochana.

The HSA guidance does not set a fixed review schedule. It calls for ongoing vigilance, investigating incidents, reviewing controls and consulting staff on whether the measures work. Section 19 of the Act itself requires review where there has been a significant change or reason to doubt the assessment.

A practical checklist

Our suggestion, not a legal requirement: use the following as a starting point for a short review.

• List the roles and locations where staff meet the public or work alone.
• Check incident and near-miss records, and ask staff what has happened that was never written down.
• Record the findings and controls in your written risk assessment and safety statement.
• Agree a simple process for reporting, support and manager follow-up after an incident.
• Revisit the assessment after any incident or change, such as new opening hours, a new cash process or a new office layout.

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

Is there a specific Irish regulation on workplace violence?

In the sources we read, the HSA grounds its guidance in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (general duties, risk assessment) rather than in a stand-alone violence regulation. It also lists the General Application Regulations 2007 and the reporting regulations as relevant.

Does the employer's duty cover customers and visitors?

Section 12 of the Act requires employers to run their undertaking so that, so far as is reasonably practicable, non-employees at the workplace are not exposed to risks to their safety, health or welfare. The HSA guidance says the same about customers and visitors.

Do all incidents have to be reported to the HSA?

No. The HSA guidance says only injuries that meet the reporting criteria must be reported to the HSA. It still recommends that all incidents of violence and aggression are recorded internally on a suitable form to inform future control measures, and the HSA's health and social care guide says employees should be encouraged to report all incidents, however minor.

Does the HSA say how often to review the risk assessment?

The guidance does not set a fixed schedule. Section 19 of the Act requires a review where there has been a significant change or reason to think the assessment is no longer valid.

Violence and aggression are predictable hazards in many workplaces, and Irish law expects employers to assess and control them. Start with a written risk assessment, involve your staff, and keep reviewing.