IOSH Applauds Ireland's New Health and Safety Strategy
The organization said it hopes the Health and Safety Authority's Strategy Statement 2013-2015 can reduce occupational fatalities, particularly in agriculture and the fishing industry.
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) welcomed the three-year strategy released Jan. 25 by Ireland's Health and Safety Authority, which promises to maintain the current level of construction inspections and to promote risk management education for students.
"The HSA performs a vital social and economic role for Ireland, delivering health and safety regulation, protection, improvement and education. And with around 1,800 members working across all sectors in Ireland, IOSH is pleased to contribute to the achievement of the strategy vision," said IOSH Ireland Branch Chair Michelle Peate-Morgan. "We welcome the Health and Safety Authority's new, three-year strategy and Minister [for Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation] Richard Bruton's comment that health and safety is central to successful enterprise. The strategy can help to reduce the number of fatalities in our workplaces, particularly in the wake of worrying agriculture and fishing deaths in Ireland in recent years.
"At IOSH, like the HSA, we are concerned by the constant trivialization and negative portrayal of health and safety, as it undermines the real and very serious aim of saving lives," she added. "The report mentions that in 2010, failures in this area cost the Irish economy €3.2 billion and led to more than a million lost work days. This highlights the sound business case for good health and safety, complementing the compelling legal and moral argument."
IOSH has more than 40,000 members in 85 countries.