The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) has announced a new programme of focused advisory and inspection visits across the agri-food sector as part of its healthier workplaces campaign.
David Lowe, acting principal inspector of HSENI’s Agriculture and Food Group, said that inspectors will be visiting food production premises “to help ensure business are protecting their workforce from long-term health problems”.
“Employers have a duty to make sure their workers are safe and healthy, especially when dealing with substances that can damage their lungs, including chemicals and grain or flour dust,” he said.
HSENI
Over the next year, HSNI inspectors will be visiting agriculture and food production premises in Northern Ireland to ensure hazardous substances are being handled properly and that appropriate safety measures are in place.
“They will focus on how employers manage hazardous substances in the workplace and comply with their legal duties under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (NI) Regulations 2003 (COSHH).
“They will also be looking more specifically at those substances which have been assigned a workplace exposure limit (WEL), which cause known health effects and where health surveillance may be required,” Lowe added.
HSENI confirmed that there will be a mixture of announced and unannounced inspections.
Duty holders are reminded that they have very specific responsibilities under COSHH, and they must ensure they are familiar with the regulations and complying with them fully.
“Occupational respiratory diseases are all too common, but they are also preventable. No one should develop ill health simply because of the job they do.
“If anyone has concerns about their lung health they should speak to their GP,” Lowe said.
Occupational lung disease symptoms include a persistent cough, as well as severe difficulties in breathing, chest tightness and coughing up blood.
Symptoms can often be painful and debilitating, affecting the person’s way of life and in severe cases can prevent sufferers from leading a normal lifestyle.
To help businesses prepare for visits, HSENI has created a checklist that outlines what inspectors will be looking for which is available on the executive’s website.
