Effective Safety Management: The Business Argument
Effective Safety Management: The Business Argument ANDY TILLEARD EHS Consultant EazySAFE Ireland has a good track record for accidents in the workplace. Data shows that Ireland has the lowest standardised incidence rates (per 100,000 employees) of fatal accidents at work for 2018 and averaged rates from 2015 – 2017 at 0.45 and 0.96 respectively. However, if you were related to any of the people who had been killed at work in these time frames here…
Understanding Safety: What is smart PPE?
Understanding Safety: What is smart PPE? ANDY TILLEARD EHS Consultant EazySAFE PPE (personal protective equipment) has long been recognised as a useful tool in providing a barrier between a person and a hazard. We are all familiar with high visibility vests, hard hats and safety footwear which are probably the most common items of PPE used throughout the industry on a daily basis. Covid-19 has also raised our awareness of both PPE and RPE (respiratory protective equipment) in…
Outline of Global Sustainability in OHS
Outline of Global Sustainability in OHS ANDY TILLEARD EHS Consultant EazySAFE What is sustainability? A common definition for sustainability, in general, is to ensure that we have "…ability to meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." It fundamentally relates to the available resources that we have and how we optimise these for today and tomorrow. It is an issue that has a history; for example,…
Basic Electrical Safety in the Workplace
Basic Electrical Safety in the Workplace Gemma Doyle EHF Consultant EazySAFE We use electricity every day, all day! There are practically zero occupations in the world that do not expose employees to electricity. Sometimes we can forget how dangerous electricity can be if it is not respected and if it is not maintained correctly. You can’t smell it. You can’t taste it, can’t see it, which makes it deadly. The workplace has a multitude of…
Fatigue in the workplace
Fatigue in the Workplace? ANDY TILLEARD EHS Consultant EazySAFE Many day-to-day hazards are easy to identify in the workplace; workplace vehicles, chemicals, noise and many others have physical characteristics which make them easy to recognise and assess. However, fatigue is a workplace hazard that is not always so easy to identify, but it can be present in the workplace all of the time to varying degrees and be embedded into the organisation's management and workforce. What makes…
Rebuilding the Workplace
Rebuilding the Workplace LISA QUINN O'FLAHERTY Solicitor Fitzsimons Redmond Never before have we had such a blank slate to shape our workplaces to suit the needs of all stakeholders. Office workers have kept businesses afloat over the last year and a half from their own homes. They have proven that the model where everybody works from a central office is both unnecessary and outdated. Workers have shown that targets can be met while working from…
Bullying and Harassment
Bullying and Harassment LISA QUINN O'FLAHERTY Solicitor Fitzsimons Redmond Bullying and harassment at work are risks to be monitored and mitigated. Workplaces that deal inappropriately with bullying leave themselves open to the high turnover of staff, lost productivity, absenteeism, civil claims in respect of stress, bullying and harassment and even claims for constructive dismissal. They may also find themselves in breach of Health and Safety legislation for failing to prevent stress-related injuries. As well as the impact on the…
Employee Health Safety and Wellbeing
Employee Health Safety and Wellbeing ALAN WHITE Wellness Consultant EazySAFE Employee Health and Safety (EHS) is an integral part of any business. Carrying out risk assessments and ensuring staff are properly trained is inherent to all organisations. Employee inductions always include safety training to ensure that everyone works to minimise the risks of physical injury. Keeping employees physically safe is of course one of the fundamental priorities in any organisation, however in order to take a holistic…
Commuting to Work Post Covid
Commuting to Work Post Covid Gemma Doyle EHF Consultant EazySAFE Over the coming weeks and months, many employees will return to their place of work. After over a year or half of working remotely, a lot of employees will have a shock to the system, when they return to commuting to work! There are many perks to working from home and remotely, one of them being no commute. Having no commute to work has its…
Vaccinating against workplaces issues
Vaccinating against Workplace issues LISA QUINN O'FLAHERTY Solicitor Fitzsimons Redmond As businesses reopen, and employers contemplate bringing workers back to the physical workplace, there remains a duty to ensure a safe place of work for all employees and the people who come onto their premises. Precautions must be taken to protect workers and others from contracting Covid-19. One way of ensuring this is done safely is to request that all employees avail of a Covid-19 vaccination. It must be noted that the Department of Enterprise,…