Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Health and Safety Authority, from 01 January 2024 to date, has conducted 3,673 inspections. The tables presented at the end of this response set out the number of inspections by month and by sector.

Health and Safety Authority inspectors, following an inspection may give advice either verbally or in writing, on how a duty holder can make improvements on health and safety in their workplace. The inspector may also take action if the inspector finds a duty holder is breaking the law or the inspector may stop work which is dangerous. Some of the enforcement actions that can be used include:

• A Report of Inspection setting out areas for improvement and advice about health and safety at work.
• An Improvement Notice or a Contravention Notice for breaches of the legislation giving you a period of time to make improvements.
• A Prohibition Notice where there is a risk of serious personal injury which will stop you doing something until you have made it safe to continue.

An Improvement Notice is a legal directive from an inspector requiring that certain improvements be carried out in a specified timeframe to comply with the law. In general, the more common reasons for issuing improvement notices include:

• Equipment/machinery/vehicles and their parts not adequately maintained,
• Entrances/exits/pathways obstructed,
• Failure to appoint Project Supervisor Construction Stage (PSCS) on construction projects,
• Failure to produce evidence of or satisfactory safety documentation such as safety statements, risk assessments, fire registers,
• Lack of or inadequate traffic management plans,
• Lack of/inadequate fall protection in place.

A Prohibition Notice is a legal instruction directing that a specified work activity be stopped due to the level of danger apparent in that activity during an inspection. In general, the more common reasons for issuing prohibition notices include:

• Inadequate scaffolding/Lack of edge protection on scaffolding,
• Use of unsafe equipment/machinery/vehicles e.g. lack of or inadequate Power Take Off (PTO) guard, use of excavators without working auxiliary aids,
• Lack of or inadequate fall protection,
• Lack of controls for dust/asbestos,
• Unsafe livestock handling practices.

In the timeframe available to respond to this PQ, the Health and Safety Authority was unable to report on detailed compliance rates. However, the Authority will forward the non-compliance rate details (% prohibition notices, % improvement notices, % written advices) across each sector to the Deputy within the next 10 days.

2024 Inspection numbers

Month	# Inspections
January	886
February	782
March	614
April	1082
May	309
Total	3673

	January	February	March	April	May	Total
CONSTRUCTION	140	183	107	246	69	745
AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHING	203	104	94	144	32	577
MANUFACTURING	119	127	66	168	54	534
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE;REPAIR OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND MOTORCYCLES	91	67	80	98	30	366
HUMAN HEALTH AND SOCIAL WORK ACTIVITIES	64	58	46	74	26	268
ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD SERVICE ACTIVITIES	107	55	43	30	6	241
TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE	38	50	38	59	23	208
WATER SUPPLY;SEWERAGE,WASTE MANAGEMENT AND REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES	46	29	39	51	7	172
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEFENCE;COMPULSORY SOCIAL SECURITY	8	18	30	39	24	119
EDUCATION	18	29	13	33	7	100
ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPPORT SERVICE ACTIVITIES	10	19	28	27	3	87
MINING AND QUARRYING	10	17	7	27	8	69
OTHER SERVICE ACTIVITIES	7	3	9	35	5	59
PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES	8	6	4	14	2	34
ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION	3	5	4	7	9	28
ELECTRICITY,GAS,STEAM AND AIR CONDITIONING SUPPLY	6	5	4	9	2	26
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION	3	2	1	13	1	20
REAL ESTATE ACTIVITIES	2	3		5	1	11
FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE ACTIVITIES	3	2	1	2		8
ACTIVITIES OF EXTRA TERRITORIAL ORGANISATIONS AND BODIES				1		1
Total	886	782	614	1082	309	3673