CIVIL & CRIMINAL LAW

n Civil Law

Compensate victim for injury, loss of earnings

(damages), etc.
Initiated by person sustaining injury or loss
Can insure against claims

n Criminal Law

Intended to punish, e.g. fines

Initiated by State, e.g. Gardai.
Cannot insure against sanctions

STATUTE & COMMON LAW

Statute law, mainly criminal, is written in Acts, such
as the Safety Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005.
These are also written in Regulations and Orders
along with approved Codes of Practice and Guidance
documents.
Common law, mainly civil, judges make a decision
and this is written down; if the judgements are
recorded.

KEY LEGAL PHRASES

Reasonable care - Everyone has a common
law duty of care. For example, employers
must understand risks inherent in work and
protect against foreseeable injury, etc. This is
normally discharged by provision of:

Systems of work, effective supervision

Competent staff
Adequate materials, plant & premises

 Negligence - This has now been

extended to damage such as stress. To
Prove Negligence, the plaintiff must
show:
Duty of care exists
Breach of that duty
Damage resulted from that breach
Vicarious liability The employer is
responsible for actions of employee

THE THREE LEVELS OF

DUTY considered in law
q
Absolute
q
Practicable
q Reasonably Practicable, i.e.
exercise all due care by putting in place
the necessary protective and
preventative measures appropriate to
their level of involvement.

Health and Safety

Legislation
You have a Health and Safety responsibility if you
are:
q
A client having construction work done
q
A designer preparing plans and
specifications
q
Contractor or employer whose employees
carry out or manage construction work.

To work in engineering, you need to:

o Understand principles of hazard identification & risk
assessment.
o Consider risk control measures for critical features
and their maintenance.
o Understand generic and specific hazards and risks
for construction
o Describe legal requirements for design risk
assessments
o Practically demonstrate an understanding of risk
assessment techniques.
o Consult & Communicate appropriate control
measures from the planning and conceptual design
stage through to the actual build

o Introduce and implement control measures at the design

stage for safe progress of the project
o State the required information for the Health & Safety File
o Know the main provisions of current H&S Legislation &
Regulations.
The four main areas to focus on are:
n Legal Framework Applicable to Designers
n Construction Regulations 2006
n Hazards & Related Issues in the Design Process
n Risk Assessments & Risk Controls

ENFORCEMENT - The Health & Safety Authority (HSA)

The self-employed, a company, director,

employee or company secretary can be
prosecuted.
In a Summary Trial, you may have to
pay a maximum of 3,000 and/or serve
a maximum of 6 months in prison.
As a result of a conviction of Indictment,
you may have to pay up to 3m and/or
serve up to 2 years imprisonment.

LEGISLATION
o Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005.
This is the most important piece of health &
safety Legislation governing Safety in the
Workplace enactment in the Irish Statute Book.
o Safety, Health & Welfare at Work (General
Application Regulations) 2007. After the
Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005, this
is the most important.
o Safety, Health & Welfare at Work
(Construction) Regulations 2006

The Safety, Health & Welfare at Work (Construction)

Regulations 2006
Amongst other issues, these regulations define:
o A Client If you are a person (including a company) for whom
construction work is being carried out for the purpose of a trade or
business or other undertaking
o A Designer If you are engaged in preparing drawings, particulars,
specifications, calculations and bills of quantities in relation to a
project.
o Project Supervisor for the Design Process (PSDP) Is a
Competent person appointed by the client and is often a designer.
o Project Supervisor for the Construction Stage (PSCS) Is a
Competent person appointed by the client and is often a contractor.
o A Contractor Is an employer whose employees carry out or
manage construction work.

Safety, Health & Welfare at Work (General

Application Regulations) 2007 (SI 299/07)
nPart 2 o Five Chapters on the Workplace, Use of Work
Equipment, Personal Protective Equipment, Manual Handling of
Loads, Display Screen Equipment
nPart 3 o Electricity
nPart 4 o Work at Heights
n Chapter 1 - Control of Noise at Work
n Chapter 2 - Control of Vibration at Work
nPart 6 o Sensitive Risk Groups
n Chapter 1 - Protection of Children and Young Persons
n Chapter 2 - Protection of Pregnant, Post Natal
n Chapter 3 - Night Work & Shift Work
nPart 7 o Safety Signs and First Aid
n Chapter 1 - Safety Signs and Places of Work
n Chapter 2 - First Aid
nPart 8 o Explosive Atmospheres at Places of Work

nSchedules
1. Requirements for work equipment
2. Personal Protective Equipment
3. Risk Factors for Manual Handling of loads
4. Minimum Requirements for all Display screen
equipment
5. Inspection of Work Equipment
6. Hand-arm vibration and whole body vibration
7. Protection of Children & Young Persons
8. List of Agents, Processes and Working Conditions
relating to pregnant, post natal, and breastfeeding
employees
9. Safety & Health Signs at Work
10. Explosive Atmospheres

The Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005

Undertaking means a person being an individual, a body corporate or an
unincorporated body of persons engaged in the production, supply or
distribution of goods or the provision of a service (whether carried on by
him or her for profit or not);
Director includes a person in accordance with whose directions or
instructions the director of the undertaking concerned are accustomed
to act but does not include such a person if the directors are accustomed
to so act by reason only that they do so on advice given by the person in a
professional capacity; [Linked to the 2005 Act, Section 80]
Competent Person. Having regard to the task he or she is required to
perform and taking account of the size or hazards (or both of them) of the
undertaking or establishment in which he or she undertakes work, a
competent person possesses sufficient training, experience and
knowledge appropriate to the nature of the work to be undertaken.
Reasonably practicable. The employer has exercised all due care by
putting in place the necessary protective and preventive measures,
appropriate to their level of involvement.

Section 16 - General duties of designers, manufacturers,

importers and suppliers of articles and substances; please note that
there are similar provisions relating to substances
q Designers and manufacturers of articles must carry out
research with a view to discovering any safety & health risks
associated with the article and the elimination or minimisation of same.
Articles must:
q
Be designed and constructed so as to be safe and without
risk when properly used by a person at a workplace;
q
Comply with relevant statutory provisions, and with any
enactment implementing any relevant Directive of the European
Communities;
q
Be tested and information supplied;

Section 17 (1) - Duties on persons commissioning or procuring

projects for construction work: note that this responsibility also
extends to temporary works.
They must appoint competent person(s) to ensure the project:
q

Is designed and capable of being constructed safely;

Is constructed to be safe and without risk to health;

q
Can be maintained safely and without risk to health during
subsequent use, and
q
Complies in all respects, as appropriate, with the relevant
statutory provisions
q

Obligations extend to designers of construction projects;

Section 17(2) - Duties on persons designing projects

for construction work.
They must ensure the project:
q

Is designed and capable of being constructed to be safe and

without risk to health;

Can be maintained safely and without risk to health during

subsequent use, and

Complies in all respects, as appropriate, with the relevant

statutory provisions