See HERE for the Employers’ duties

Just before Germany was re-unified the East German parliament building was closed to further use. The reason was not the redundancy of the parliament, it was the level of asbestos used in the construction of the building and it’s then condition. There are many buildings which share this feature with the parliament building, but they are not closed down.
The reason is the overwhelming number of uses asbestos was put to and the ubiquitousness of the substance. Asbestos is a mineral and is mined from rock. It has a high tensile strength and is impervious to fire and heat. It is an excellent insulation material, its most widespread use. However, it also found use in the motor industry as a constituent of brake linings. Friction causes the linings to wear and reduces them to dust particles. When they are to be replaced the mechanic may naturally blow the dust away from the brake drum. That act may have fatal affects for him at a considerably later date.
Asbestos is a cause of asbestosis and also cancer of the lungs. The latter may not show symptoms for as long as 20 years after the last exposure.
Despite its carcinogenic quality asbestos is not a prohibited substance and is not subject to general control. Prior to the Repeal of the Saety in Industry Acts 1955-1980 by the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, premises regulated under the Factories Act 1955 were affected by Section 59 of that Act and the Factories (Asbestos Processes) Regulations 1975. The Department of Labour estimated that the Safety in Industry Acts at best covered 20% of the workforce. The 1975 Regulations only covered “processes” and thus the decay of asbestos in a factory was arguably not covered in legislation save the European Community directives for the protection of workers’ health, and The Health and Safety at Work Act 1989 (now repealed).
Section 59 of the Factories Act 1955 (now repealed) prohibited eating or drinking in a workroom where, inter alia, asbestos was produced and also prohibited the taking of rest periods in such places. Only the provisions of the common law and the European Community directives stood to protect the worker in a factory, the same protection of which any other worker might avail. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has stated that there is no safe level of exposure. It also does not distinguish between the various forms of asbestos on the grounds that they all cause cancer. Distinction has been made between crocidolite (“blue asbestos”) and crysotile (“white asbestos”) Both of these forms of asbestos cause cancer. All forms of asbestos cause cancer.
In 1969, in Britain, the Asbestos Regulations 1969 were introduced. They closely resembled the later Irish Regulations. By 1985 The British Government had changed it’s mind and banned importation or supply of crocidolite and amosite(“brown asbestos”) or products containing those forms of asbestos. In addition they prohibited the spraying of asbestos of any type or the use of asbestos of any type as insulation.
In 1987, according to Dublin County Council, at least 120 tonnes of asbestos waste was being stored at various places around Dublin. It was kept in containers at sites including the Dublin docks and an industrial estate in Clondalkin. Milltown was another location and the asbestos there had been stripped on the site. According to one of the companies which owned most of the asbestos, it was stored on the sites from which it had been stripped, where possible. The storage of the asbestos became necessary when Britain declined to allow importation of asbestos waste. A disposal facility was later found in France.
The question now, for the protection of workers and others, is whether to disturb the asbestos or to retain it in its current location. This will require a survey, followed by provision for any necessary containment of the asbestos. This might be achieved by coating the asbestos with varnish or enclosing it behind partitions. Care must be taken to avoid damaging it during these operations.

In Britain the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 set out the reqirements to protect persons from damage by asbestos.

In the regulations, “the control limit” means a concentration of asbestos in the atmosphere when measured in accordance with the 1997 WHO recommended method, or by a method giving equivalent results to that method approved by the Health and Safety Commission, of 0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre of air averaged over a continuous period of 4 hours;. This is not a safe limit. This is a measurement of levels of dust in excess of which no person is to be exposed under any circumstances. This refers to the workers and any persons in the vicinity of the site of the asbestos removal.

Construction

For Employers’ duties see HERE

According to a report in 1990 from an advisory group of employers, trade unions, the National Industrial Safety Organisation and the Health and Safety Authority Inspectorate, the main causes of building accidents, are cost-cutting, lack of control over sub-contractors and time-saving measures.
The study showed, in the case of the sample of incidents reviewed, that 20% involved falls; 20% involved ladders or scaffolds; 11% involved contact with power lines; 9% involved collapse of trenches.
In 1985 the Safety Officer of the Construction Industry Federation reported “….. it is evident that many of the site managers and workers have no idea of their responsibilities under the Acts”.
According to the Minister for Labour, in 1988, Irish building sites were among the most dangerous places in Europe. He said a sizeable number of building site were not being reported to his Department. Over the 10 years from 1982 to 1992 more than 70 people were killed and 5,000 seriously injured on Irish building sites.

Accidents at Work – Skin Disease

For Employer’s Duties see HERE

It is generally agreed that skin disease is the commonest occupationally-caused disease. According to the United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive it accounted for 59% of all reported occupational disease in 1978-79. This reflects the Irish experience in proportional terms, although the total Irish figures are deceptively low. Although the skin is a remarkable and complex organ, the stresses applied to it in some workplaces are extreme and it is unable to perform it’s usual valuable functions. These include the provision of a barrier to harmful bacteria and retention of liquid in the body tissues.
The skin has a number of layers, the uppermost consisting of a thin layer of acid fat soluble secretions from the sebaceous glands. Solvents or prolonged immersion in water will remove this layer. The lower layers are subject to damage from acids, abrasions, cuts, and solvents.
The effects vary, but dermatitis is by far the most frequent manifestation, representing 80% to 90% of the problem. It may arise from a number of causes including physical sources such as heat or cold or excessive exposure to water but most of it is caused by contact with a chemical agent of one or more kinds. Some of these will cause dermatitis in every person exposed to sufficient concentrations, while others are active only as an allergic reaction in sensitive individuals. The symptoms are similar whether the agent is irritant or allergic. They can consist of redness, rash, dry scaling, wet weeping, sores or crust formation.
The agents are very numerous; they include cement, rubber, paint, some woods, tars, dyes, detergents, bricks, oil, leather. The following also cause dermatitis;

1,2-dichloroethylene, 1-2-dichloroethane
2,4-dinitro-O-cresol, Acetates
Acetic anhydride, Acetonitrile
Acrylonitrile, Alkalis
Allyl alcohol, Anthraquinone
Antinomy, Barium Compounds
Benzene Hexachloride (Lindane), Calcium cyanamide
Chloride of Lime, Chlorinated biphenyls
Chlorinated naphthalenes, Chloronitroanilines
Chloronitrobenzenes, Chlorprene
Dinitro-phenols, Epoxy resins
Ethyl acetate, Hexachlorobenzene
Hexamethylene tetramine, Hydroquinone
Isocyanates, Malathion
Naphtols, Pentachlorphenol
Phenols, Picric acid
Piperazine, Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Pyridine, Tetryl
Tin compounds, Toluene di-isocyanate
Vinyl acetate, Xylenols

Dermatitis is caused by exposure and appears at the point of contact. The agent may be air-borne, in which case any exposed skin will show symptoms. Skin covered by clothing will be untouched, often resulting in a sharp border line between affected areas and clear skin. If direct contact is involved, the hands are obviously most at risk, but the forehead or other parts of the head may be also affected through contamination from the hands. Occasionally, the wearing of gloves will have protected the hands and only the head will show symptoms. Sometimes the thighs are affected, even through clothing, by rubbing with the hands during work.
Allergic dermatitis requires a period of sensitization to the active agent. This may occur over a variable period of time during which there will be no symptoms. Thereafter, symptoms will appear with each contact with the agent.
Dermatitis is a prescribed occupational disease.

The time within which proceedings for compensation for personal injury must be issued, at risk of being barred under the Statute of Limitations 1957 (as amended), was shortened to two years by the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004.

This provision came into effect on 31st March 2005.

Thus, prima facie, such actions must be issued before 31st March 2007 (or lodged and registered with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board), failing which they may be dismissed without a hearing on the merits, on the application of the Defendant in the action.