Safety, Health and Welfare (Offshore Installations) Act, 1987

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General powers of inspectors.

41.—(1) An inspector shall, for the purpose of the execution of this Act, have power—

(a) at any time (whether by day or by night) to board or otherwise enter an offshore installation to which this Act applies and to inspect the whole or any part thereof and anything therein or thereon,

(b) to take with him a member of the Garda Síochána if he has reasonable cause to apprehend any obstruction in the execution of his duty,

(c) to make such examination and inquiry as may be necessary—

(i) to ascertain whether the following are complied with, namely, the provisions of this Act and regulations thereunder, any direction or requirement given or imposed by a notice served under or by virtue of this Act by the Minister or by an inspector and any condition attached to any exemption or consent granted or given under or by virtue of this Act by the Minister or an inspector, or

(ii) to ascertain any matter appearing to the inspector to affect or relate to the safety, health or welfare of persons employed on, in or in the neighbourhood of such an offshore installation and in particular (but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing) the causes and circumstances of any accident or other occurrence at such an offshore installation being in either case one of which notice is required by this Act to be given,

(d) for the purpose of any examination or inquiry under the foregoing provisions—

(i) to take any measurement or photograph or make any tape or other electrical recording which he considers to be necessary for such purposes,

(ii) to require any person whom he finds on such an offshore installation, or whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be, or within the preceding two months to have been employed on such an offshore installation, to answer, in the absence of persons other than a person nominated by the person to be present and any persons whom the inspector may allow to be present, such questions as the inspector thinks fit to ask, so however, that no answer given by a person in pursuance of a requirement imposed under this sub-paragraph shall be admissible in evidence against him in any proceedings,

(iii) to take (without payment) samples of any articles or substances found on such an offshore installation and of the atmosphere, or to take a reading of the level of any radiation, there,

(iv) to take possession or control (without compensation) of any machinery, apparatus or other article whatsoever on such an offshore installation which appears to him to have caused, or to be likely to cause, danger to safety or health and cause it to be dismantled or subjected to any process or test, notwithstanding that it is thereby damaged or destroyed,

(e) to require the production of, and when produced to inspect and to take copies of—

(i) any installation logbook or other document which by, or by virtue of, this Act is required to be kept, and

(ii) any other documents, being documents which are in the possession or under the control of a concession owner, the owner of such an offshore installation or an installation manager and in the opinion of the inspector are relevant for the purposes of an examination or inquiry under the foregoing provisions of this subsection,

(f) to examine, either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, with respect to matters under this Act, every person whom he finds in or on an offshore installation to which this Act applies, or whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been within the preceding two months employed in or on such an offshore installation, and to require every such person to be so examined and to sign a declaration of the truth of the matters respecting which he is so examined,

(g) to require any person having responsibilities in relation to such an offshore installation (whether he is or is not the owner or the installation manager or any other person employed thereon or in the neighbourhood thereof) to—

(i) give him such facilities and assistance with respect to any matters or things to which the responsibilities of that person extend as are necessary for the purpose of enabling the inspector to exercise any of the powers conferred on him by this subsection,

(ii) enable the inspector to use any thing which is then under the person's control and is required by the inspector for the purpose of making an examination or inquiry or taking a sample under this Act,

(iii) render, or cause to be rendered, for or in connection with any such examination or inquiry or taking of a sample, such personal assistance as the inspector shall specify,

(h) to exercise such other powers as may be necessary for carrying this Act into effect.

(2) (a) Any person who is a person described in subsection (1) (g) of this section may, at the time when a sample is taken under this section, and on providing the necessary appliances, require the inspector to divide the sample into three parts, to mark and seal or fasten up each part in such manner as its nature permits, and

(i) to deliver one part to him,

(ii) to retain one part for future comparison,

(iii) to submit one part for analysis,

and any analysis under this section shall, if so required, be carried out by or under the direction of the State Chemist or a person who is for the time being approved of for the purposes of the section by the Minister.

(b) A certificate purporting to be a certificate by the State Chemist or a person who is for the time being approved of for the purposes of the section by the Minister as to the result of an analysis of a sample taken under this section shall in any proceedings under this Act be admissible as evidence of the matters stated therein, but either party may require the person by whom the analysis was made to be called as a witness.

(c) It shall not be lawful for any person, except in so far as is necessary for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence under this Act, to publish or disclose to any person, other than the Minister, the results of an analysis made under this section.

(d) In this subsection “the section” means section 72 of the Factories Act, 1955 , as amended by sections 42 (2) and 56 (d) of the Act of 1980.