Safety Statements

All employers and the self employed must comply with the requirements of Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. This requires that they produce a safety statement relating to their work activities.

The safety statement is to be based on risk assessment of the hazards that may affect the employees or visitors. It is the place to record the significant findings of any risk assessments. The safety statement must be reviewed and, if necessary, amended as required. This is to be annually or more frequently if for example your business changes and your employees are exposed to new hazards e.g. the introduction of new machinery or new work practices, or when there is reason to believe that it is no longer adequate, e.g. changes to health and safety arrangements and resources or a near-miss incident.

The safety statement must be brought to the attention of the employees and to any other persons at the place of work who might be exposed to the specific risks outlined in the safety statement. When bringing the safety statement to the attention of employees, it must be in a form, manner and, if necessary, a language that can be understood by employees.

• Prepare a complete specific Health & Safety Statement for your business
• Review your existing Health & Safety Statement as required

1 Financial reasons

There is considerable evidence, borne out by companies’ practical experiences, that effective safety and health management in the workplace contributes to business

success. Accidents and ill-health inflict significant costs, often hidden and underestimated.

2 Legal reasons

Carrying out a risk assessment, preparing a safety statement and implementing what you have written down are not only central to any safety and health management

system, they are required by law. Health and Safety Authority inspectors visiting workplaces will want to know how employers are managing safety and health. If they investigate an accident, they will scrutinise the risk assessment and safety statement, and the procedures and work practices in use. Make sure that these stand up to examination.

3 Moral and ethical reasons

The process of carrying out a risk assessment, preparing a safety statement and implementing what you have written down will help employers prevent injuries and illhealth at work. Employers are ethically bound to do all they can to ensure that your employees do not suffer illness, a serious accident or death.