Address by Minister Kelleher At the HSE 2007 Fire, Health and Safety Conference

Oriel House Hotel, Ballincollig, Co. Cork , Tuesday, 23^rd October 2007

I was very glad to accept the Health Service Executive’s invitation to deliver the opening address here today at it’s 2007 Fire, Health and Safety Conference. I want to take this opportunity today to commend the HSE on putting together such an impressive programme of speakers and topics on subjects as diverse as Asbestos for the Lay Person to Fire Safety. The topics are all of immense importance to promoting health and safety in the workplace.

The Health and Safety Authority has had a focus on the health sector for some time now through sector specific inspections and a focus on accident and emergency departments. The Authority commissioned a report on manual handling incidents in the health care sector in January of this year which set out to examine the causes of manual handling incidents in the sector and to scrutinize the costs to the sector of these incidents.

In 2006, 38% of injuries reported to the Health and Safety Authority were caused by manual handling. This includes ‘lifting and carrying’, ‘pushing and pulling’ and ‘twisting and turning’, with 18% of injuries in the health sector cause by ‘slips, trips and falls’.

The findings of the report include that attendants accounted for the highest number of lifting injuries reported while catering staff accounted for the second highest. The majority of injuries reported were back injuries, just over half of those injured were involved in a patient handling task at the time of the incident and 42% of those injured do not return to work.

Recommendations from the report include that:

Non-care staff should be specifically targeted in any strategy to prevent manual handling injuries.

Fall prevention programmes should be developed in healthcare settings, particularly in ‘care of the elderly’ units.

Manual handling training programmes should be specific to the actual work tasks and should be based on the documented manual handling risk assessments that have been carried out at management level.

Because of the type of work undertaken by health service employees these recommendations need to be acted on to alleviate pain and suffering as well as reduce downtime.

On this theme generally, this years European Safety Week, starting on the 22nd October, will focus on Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). The campaign, initiated by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, will raise awareness of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) and encourage employers and employees to work in partnership to reduce the risk of injury.

Training is vital in order to reduce the number of people falling victim to these debilitating and painful injuries. The Health and Safety Authority has developed some instructional animations in this area, which are available on its website www.hsa.ie. I urge all those in the health sector to address the risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) and manual handling in the workplace. It is a legal requirement and also makes good business sense. 

All figures for accidents are unacceptable. It is vital to put health and safety at the very top of the agenda. The safety message must become a fundamental part of our everyday lives.

We must take health and safety concerns to the heart of everything we do so that it’s the first thing we think of no matter what activity we’re about to undertake - If we have the skills to identify hazards, assess the risk and do something about it, then we’re significantly reducing our chances of having an accident, whether in or out of work. These are valuable life-skills and should be recognised as such.

It is a fact that most accidents are preventable and that most involve simple incidents which could be avoided. There is a high human and economic cost when the accident occurs. In 2005 there were 74 work related fatalities reported to the Health and Safety Authority, last year (2006) the figure was 50, this represents a decrease of almost a third on the fatality rate in 2005. However, already this year there have been 56 confirmed workplace fatalities (as at 19 October 2007). What we need to be doing is thinking ‘safety’ at all times so that a culture of safety develops.

In 2006 the Health and Safety Authority was involved in a very important initiative in your sector when it promoted the occupational safety, health and welfare management system and the Audit Tool, which was developed in partnership with the health sector.

The system articulated in this Audit Tool and in the associated Guidance Document is for all healthcare organisations to develop and implement. Throughout the development and implementation of the safety and health management system it is essential to cross reference the Guidance with this Audit Tool document.

During 2006 the Authority carried out inspections concentrating on health and safety management in the health services sector, following up on the 2005 campaign in accident and emergency departments of large hospitals.

This programme also involved the review of procedures for ensuring better infection control in hospitals so that the health and safety of employees is protected.

The inspections highlighted problems and inadequate procedures in most of the hospitals in areas such as risk assessments for manual handling, procedures for dealing with violence and aggression in overcrowded departments, handling of chemical and biological agents and prevention of slips, trips and falls.

Compliance rates for 2006 show that over one-third of health establishments had either limited or no compliance with safety and health requirements. This is worrying and needs to be worked on by those concerned.

The Health and Safety Authority’s 2007 programme of work commits it to again targeting existing health and safety management systems and practices in the sector. This year the Authority has been focusing on worker protection in general hospitals, nursing homes and psychiatric institutions.

Occupational health and safety is about saving lives not stopping living. It is in everyone’s interest to think safety first and conferences such as today’s go a long way towards the development and promotion of the safety message.

Again, I would like to thank and commend you all for your attendance at this event. I am sure you will find it a worthwhile experience.

ENDS/LA254