S.I. No. 285/1991 - Safety, Health and Welfare At Work Act, 1989 (Control of Specific Substances and Activities) Regulations, 1991.

S.I. No. 285 of 1991.

SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK ACT, 1989 (CONTROL OF SPECIFIC SUBSTANCES AND ACTIVITIES) REGULATIONS, 1991.

I, BERTIE AHERN, T.D., Minister for Labour, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 28 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 (No. 7 of 1989), hereby make the following Regulations.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 (Control of Specific Substances and Activities) Regulations, 1991.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of December, 1991.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"the Authority" means the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health;

"specific substance" means any of the substances specified in the Schedule to these Regulations.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Directive No. 88/364/EEC of 9 June, 1988⁽¹⁾, has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations that it has in that Directive.

⁽¹⁾O.J. No. L179/44, 9.7.88.

3. (1) Subject to paragraph (4) of this Regulation, no person shall manufacture or use or cause to be used at work any specific substance unless the substance is to be used or is used—

(a) for the sole purpose of scientific research and testing, including analysis, or

(b) for work activities intended to eliminate a specific substance present in the form of by-products or waste products, or

(c) as an intermediary,

and the procedures and measures set out in paragraph (2) of these Regulations are complied with.

(2) The procedures and measures to which paragraph (1) of this Regulation applies are that—

(a) the employer concerned shall take adequate precautions to protect the health and safety of the workers concerned; and

(b) the employer concerned shall before the 31st day of January in each year in respect of the previous year submit the following information to the Authority, namely, information on—

(i) the quantities of a specific substance used during that previous year,

(ii) the activities or the reactions or processes involved,

(iii) the number of workers exposed to a specific substance,

(iv) the technical and organisational measures taken to prevent the exposure of workers to a specific substance.

(3) The exposure of workers to a specific substance shall be prevented, in particular by providing that the production and earliest possible use of the substance as an intermediary shall take place in a single closed system, from which the said substance may be removed only to the extent necessary to monitor the process or service the system.

(4) This Regulation shall not apply to air transport or sea transport or if the specific substance is present in a substance or a preparation in the form of impurities or by-products or as a constituent of waste products, provided that its individual concentration therein is less than 0.1 per cent.

4. (1) Workers or their representatives or workers and their representatives in undertakings or establishments where a specific substance is used shall have access, on a request being made in that behalf, to the documents submitted in relation to the undertaking or establishment where they work pursuant to paragraph (b) of Regulation 3 (2) of these Regulations.

(2) The documents to which paragraph (1) of this Regulation relates shall contain the information necessary to ensure that the workers or their representatives or workers and their representatives in undertakings or establishments where a specific substance is used are made fully aware of the health and safety risks connected with the specific substance or the work activity to which they are or are likely to be exposed together with the measures to be taken against such risks.

5. The Factories (Carcinogenic Substances) (Processes) Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 242 of 1972 ), are hereby revoked.

SCHEDULE.

Specific Substances.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 13th day of November, 1991.

BERTIE AHERN,

Minister for Labour.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations implement Council Directive No. 88/364/EEC on the protection of workers by the banning of certain specified agents and/or certain work activities.

The substances to be banned are listed in the Schedule to the Regulations.

The Regulations also provide for:—

—use of the banned substances under certain circumstances

—reporting of use of the banned substances

—access to information by workers and/or their representatives

—protection of workers

The Factories (Carcinogenic Substances) (Processes) Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 242 of 1972 ) have been revoked by these Regulations.