Search

This page provides access to health and safety information relating to the onshore chemical manufacture and storage industry.

Asbestos could be in any building constructed before 2000. Asbestos must be properly managed to prevent people from dying from asbestos diseases in the future.

In Northern Ireland alcohol is the most commonly abused substance, and the majority of people with a drinking problem are in the workplace, but the prospect of tackling when and how much employees drink can be daunting. However acting to prevent problems before they occur can save time in the end and is often more effective than dealing with a problem that becomes too serious to ignore.

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (PUWER) place a duty on employers to protect employees safety through the proper selection and use of work equipment.

Health and safety law applies to work activities on the road in the same way as it does to all work activities.

The law says you must organise your site so as to segregate pedestrians and excavators. Those excavators used must be carefully selected, maintained and operated by trained drivers.

A safe workplace for all vehicle operations must be established by separating pedestrians and vehicles and providing hazard-free traffic routes.

Falls from height remains one of the biggest causes of fatalities and major injuries. Common cases include falls from leading edges, roofs, from ladders and through fragile surfaces.

The first step an employer can take is to discover if drugs or alcohol misuse is a problem in the workplace. Changes in staff sickness levels or unusal changes in their behaviour may indicate drug or alcohol misuse. You may also want to examine the company's accident records and incidents of near misses. If a particular employee is becoming involved in more accidents, this could be another indicator of misuse.

This page contains information about natural gas and LPG that consumers, installers, distributors and transmission operators need to know.

Food is a basic necessity. The food and drink we eat fuels our body with the nutrients it needs to perform its daily functions. The body’s ability to digest and absorb nutrients from the food we consume determines our capacity to maintain health.
No single food can provide all the essential nutrients that the body needs, so it is important to consume a wide variety of foods to provide a well-balanced diet. We should try to eat from each food group.

In general it is accepted that work is essential to health, well-being and self-esteem.
Common mental health problems and musculoskeletal disorders are amongst the important causes of sickness absence.
The CBI calculates that 175 million working days are lost each year due to sickness absence. Absences of 4 weeks make up an estimated 6% of the number of absences and represent 43% of days lost.

HSENI is responsible for the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1982 (as amended).

Slips and trips are the most common cause of major injuries at work and make up over a third of all major injuries. Over 10,000 workers suffered serious injury because of a slip or trip last year. 95% of major slips result in broken bones. They can also be the initial cause for a range of other types of accident such as a fall from height. Everyone in the workplace has a part to play when it comes to preventing slips and trips, from the person who designed the building to the people working inside of it.

Gas engineers are legally required to check the flue after installing or carrying out any work on boilers.This site provides additional information on related issues.

Good practice in health and safety is good for your business – and it's the law. Managing health and safety can be a little daunting at first, but introducing practices that keep people safe doesn’t have to be complicated and your business will not only be safer, it will be one that can develop and thrive well into the future. HSENI is here to save you time and effort with online advice, useful resources to download and access to our free and confidential health and safety advisory and information services.

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) is one of a number of public bodies which regulate work that causes or could cause radiation exposure of workers, the public or both. HSENI’s inspectors advise, inspect, investigate and enforce in a flexible and proportionate way so that radiation exposure of employees and others, arising from work activities, is adequately controlled.

Young people are vital to our future. However, from a workplace health and safety point of view young people are of particular concern as they face an increased risk of injury and death at work due to their inexperience, lack of a maturity and appreciation of risk.

Each year workers in the United Kingdom contract lung disease or asthma because they have breathed in too much dust, fume or other airborne contaminants at work (for example flour dust in bakeries, mist from paint spraying, fumes from welding or solvents from painting).

A properly designed, maintained and operated local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system can remove airborne contaminants before people breathe them in and will protect workers' health.

The office environment is not considered a high risk workplace, however there are a number of areas which need to be considered to improve safety in the office.

All animals naturally carry a range of micro-organisms, which may be transmitted to humans and so people can become infected through consuming contaminated food or drink, through direct contact with contaminated animals, or by contact with an environment contaminated with animal faeces.