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Irish and International sites of interest

Irish

There are a wide range of Irish and international websites that provide information on workplace health and wellbeing. These include sites that are dedicated to the area (such as the Health and Safety Authority website) as well as more specialist ones that touch on specific workplace wellbeing issues and sectors.

Health and Safety Authority (HSA) – https://hsa.ie

This website provides comprehensive information on all aspects of health and safety and occupational health in Ireland. It has a specific focus on the legal requirements for health and safety as well as on sectoral issues, accident reporting and on specific topics. It provides a range of useful tools such as a Safety Statement tool (https://www.besmart.ie/) and regular safety alerts. It also provides a psychosocial risk assessment tool (Work Positive - https://www.workpositive.ie/) that can be used to support the process of identifying workplace psychosocial risks and how to deal with them.

Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) - https://ibec.ie/

IBEC is the largest employer representative body in Ireland. It provides services to its members in relation to employment law, data protection legislation, industrial relations and HR as well as health and safety. Health and safety services include consultancy provision to members in relation to areas such as legislation, health and safety management and a range of workplace hazards and health issues. These largely relate to ‘traditional’ physical and chemical risks.

IBEC also periodically publish policy papers on all issues of interest to employers as well as providing guides on specific topics. IBEC have recently (2016) published a ‘Line manager guide to mental health and wellbeing.

http://www.ibec.ie/IBEC/ES.nsf/vPages/HR_best_practice~Diversity_and_the_integrated_workplace~mental-health-and-wellbeing-a-line-manager's-guide-05-10-2012?OpenDocument

IBEC also organise a national workplace wellbeing day on an annual basis. This campaign encourages employers to improve employee health and wellbeing thorough promoting better exercise and nutrition practices amongst employees.

(http://www.ibec.ie/IBEC/DFB.nsf/vPages/Occupational_Health_and_Safety~News~national-workplace-wellbeing-day-31st-march-2017-29-03-2017?OpenDocument).

Construction Industry Federation (CIF) - https://cif.ie/

The CIF is an organisation representing construction companies in Ireland. A division of IBEC, it provides a wide range of services to its members including information and training on health and safety in construction. It provides access to an extensive range of construction related training in areas such as project management, building control and environmental management. It also runs 10 accredited training courses in their safety management programme (https://ciftraining.ie/?utm_source=cifie&utm_medium=button) that focus on the management of construction safety. It has developed a suite of online training courses as part of its CIF Virtual academy one of which is concerned with safety management.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) – https://ictu.ie

ICTU is the representative for Trade Unions in Ireland and as part of its functions it takes an active interest in workplace health issues. It has a Standing Committees on Health and Safety and also on Disability. Amongst its documents on wellbeing is a guide to mental health policy in the workplace. (https://www.ictu.ie/download/pdf/final_mental_health_policy_document_for_the_workplace.pdf)

Healthy Ireland workplace initiative - http://www.healthyireland.ie/health-initiatives/workplaces/

The Healthy Workplace Framework is being developed under the Healthy Ireland initiative of the Department of Health. It promises to be the most significant workplace initiative coming from a public health perspective for more than 15 years.

Currently under development following an extensive consultation process, it will produce a number of outputs:

A review of all workplace related health legislation
An evidence based review of what works in relation to workplace wellbeing
A policy framework for supporting action in the workplace
An accreditation scheme for good practice

Publications from this work are being published by the Institute for Public Health (https://www.publichealth.ie/healthy-workplaces )

Department of Employment and Social Protection (DESP) – http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/home.aspx

The DESP is set up to provide a range of social welfare benefits to individuals and employers. Sickness and illness are a significant element of these benefits and among the more relevant of these are:

Among the benefits that the DESP offers are a number of supports to employers in relation to the employment of people with disabilities. These include:

Human Rights and Equality Commission - https://www.ihrec.ie/

The Human Rights and Equality Commission (formerly the Equality Authority) have published a guide for employers on what the law means for the workplace in relation to equality and mental health. It covers such areas as:

How reasonable accommodation practices can help both employers and employees
Employers’ obligations under the Employment Equality Acts to employees who experience mental health difficulties
What reasonable accommodation in the workplace means
The role that reasonable accommodation can play in supporting employers to prevent discrimination in the workplace

It can be found at:

https://www.ihrec.ie/app/uploads/download/pdf/equality_and_mental_health___what_the_law_means_for_your_workplace.pdf

Construction Workers Health Trust (CWHT) – https://www.cwht.ie/

The Construction Workers Health Trust is an initiative of the Trade Unions in the Construction Sector. It provides health screening services to people working in the sector as well as providing dietary advice. It also provides welfare supports through its Construction Workers Benevolent Fund.

It publishes occasional reports on specific issues related to the health of workers in the sector. The latest example is an annual report on the findings from health screening activities in 2017. (https://www.cwht.ie/_webedit/uploaded-files/All%20Files/CWHT%20Report%20January%20-%20June%202016.pdf)

Health and Safety Review - https://www.healthandsafetyreview.ie/

This magazine and website is a leading source of news and information on relation to health and safety in Ireland. The magazine is published monthly.

Construction Safety Partnership Advisory Committee (CSPAC) - http://csponline.ie/

This is a collaboration between the major partners in the construction sector (the Construction Industry Federation, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Health and Safety Authority) to promote health and safety throughout the sector. The website provides access to a number of useful tools and publications including a service that enables employers to keep trach of the safety certificates of contractors and a template for undertaking risk assessments. Publications include a range of report s and guidelines on health and safety in the sector.

The Safety Management Accreditation System for the Construction Industry - Safe-t-cert.ie

Safe-T-Cert is a certification scheme designed to certify the Safety Management Systems of contractors working in the construction industry. It is exclusively targeted at the construction sector and is based on the International Labour Office (ILO) Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems.

Mental Health Ireland - http://www.mentalhealthireland.ie/

Mental health Ireland is a national level voluntary organisation that aims to promote good mental wellbeing and an overall better understanding of mental health issues in a range of settings. They recognise the workplace as being an important setting and they provide a number of services and documents addressing mental health issues in the workplace. Amongst these is a 1 day training course aimed at workplaces with the aim of raising awareness of mental health issues and providing tools to trainees for mental wellbeing self-management (http://www.mentalhealthireland.ie/ways-to-take-charge/in-the-workplace/).