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OCTOBER 1993
Deadly Wages
Hazards
Irish Work
By Edward McGarr BCL, Solicitor,
Paradox Press, 1992, 285pp, £14.99,
softback.
As is stated in the introduction there
are few statements of fact in this book
which are not already in the public
demesne but they are not to be found
in one place and in many cases are in
obscure publications as far as the
general public is concerned. As is also
stated in the introduction, a general,
affordable, book on occupational
safety and health is now an essential
purchase by every employer. This
book is intended to fill that need
which has arisen in the aftermath of
the passing of the Safety, Health and
Welfare at Work Act, 1989. This book
certainly fills an unmet need in the
area of the law of employers' liability
and safety, health and welfare at work
which were the subjects addressed by
the Barrington Commission
established by the then Government in
1980. Entitled The Commission of
Inquiry on Safety and Health and
Welfare at Work, its terms of
reference included inter alia -
"Whether changes were needed in
laws, or in voluntary activities,
relating to safety, health and
welfare at work and the transport
of dangerous substances".
The principal and fundamental
legislative consequence of the
Barrington Commission has been the
Safety, Health and Welfare at Work
Act, 1989. Mr McGarr describes the
Act as the basis of an attempt to
introduce a positive or active system
of health and safety at work in every
workplace which is intended to be
achieved by the setting of standards,
both generally and in individual
places by the Health and Safety
Authority and its inspectors. The
Health and Safety Authority which
was established under this Act as a
direct consequence of one of the
recommendations of the Barrington
Commission has now come into
existence and in addition to providing
an advisory service to employers and
employees also has the function of
policing the duties of employers as
laid down by the Act.
It is particularly gratifying for this
reviewer as a member of the
Barrington Commission to have an
opportunity of congratulating a
member of his own profession for
having the foresight, commitment and
industry to write this book which is at
once informative, interesting and
highly readable. The book is also
extremely well laid out which has the
additional benefit of making it a most
useful reference book.
The book brings together in one
publication a great deal of information
on the statutory legal safeguards
provided against the hazards of the
workplace and highlights the
increasing and very serious hazards
now posed by potentially harmful
chemical compounds and toxic
materials which are in every day
industrial use and which can be
swallowed or inhaled or absorbed
through the skin. The book further
indicates the precautions that should
be taken against such dangers at work
and the legal obligations of employers
to safeguard their employees against
them and the consequence of exposure
to them. Some of these environmental
type hazards which this book identifies
have been there for a very long time as
for example lung diseases in the form
of asthma, pneumoconiosis, skin
diseases such as dermatitis produced
by such agents as cement, rubber,
paint, tars, dies, detergents, oil, etc.,
and cancer produced by the handling
of some relatively common substances
which are carcinogenic, such as
benzene, benzidine, zinc chromates,
vinyl chloride, and in particular,
asbestos. They are now almost all
subject to statutory regulations.
This publication deals comprehens-
ively but in a very useful manner with
the full spectrum of hazards in the
workplace in Irish industry and
includes helpful references to such
problems as the lifting of loads,
repetitive strain injury, injuries
resulting from the use of machinery,
which must always be regarded as
being potentially dangerous in the
work place, falls, falling objects and
the increasing importance of stress in
the workplace.
Highlighted in this book also is some
very useful and revealing statistical
information such as the fact that Irish
workers work the second longest
number of hours per week of OECD
member countries and are outdone
only by the Japanese.
Each chapter is preceded immediately
underneath its title heading with a
number of succinct, statistical and
factual pieces of information relevant
to the subject matter of the chapter,
for example:
• A new potentially harmful chemical
compound enters industrial use
every 20 minutes.
• Hepatitis "B" is a more serious
threat than AIDS.
• More than 50% of accidents at work
involve handling objects.
• There is no safe limit for exposure
to asbestos fibres.
• Many ear protectors are not fit for
their purpose and unprotected
exposure to noise at legal limits
may cause deafness.
• Skin disease is the commonest
occupational disease.
• Employers are directly responsible
for most building site accidents.
• 35% of hospitalisations from farm
accidents involve children.
• 3,500 Irish hospital employees are
injured at work annually.
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