Introduction
National strategies are vital policy instruments to enhance the effectiveness of an OSH system by defining the key priorities and actions for improving workers’ health and safety.
The Commission called on the Member States to update and draw up their national OSH strategies in line with the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 - in cooperation with social partners - to ensure that the new measures are applied on the ground.
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is responsible for securing OSH at work, including compliance with consultation procedures. The HSA is a state-sponsored body, established under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989, which has since been replaced by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, and it reports to the Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail under delegated authority from the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE). It is responsible for every type of industry, workplace and type of work both in the public and private sectors. This ranges from micro enterprises and SME’s, to large organisations with multiple locations and thousands of employees.
More information on the OSH system can be found in the relevant OSHwiki articles on national OSH systems.
Basic Information
The current strategy document is the Health and Safety Authority, Statement of Strategy 2025- 2027[1]. This strategy statement is the sixth strategy statement prepared under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 by the Authority and was developed in collaboration with key stakeholders and through public consultation.
Former Strategies are:
- Health and Safety Authority (2019), Statement of Strategy 2022-2024[2]
- Health and Safety Authority (2019), Statement of Strategy 2019- 2021[3]
- Health and Safety Authority (2016), Statement of Strategy 2016- 2018[4]
- Health and Safety Authority (2012), Statement of Strategy 2013- 2015[5]
- Health and Safety Authority (2010), Statement of Strategy 2010- 2012[6]
Main characteristics and objectives of the OSH-strategy (activity plan)
- The Authority’s strategy for the period 2025-2027 has been developed in the context of rapidly evolving changes in Ireland and abroad. The adoption of new practices and ways of working in the coming years will change the health and safety risks we face, driven by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
- Economic changes, such as inflation, fluctuations in economic cycles, and labour market shortages, may impact on compliance with health and safety regulations.
- At a sectoral level, growing sectors such as the circular economy, green transition, the expanding gig economy, as well as increased activity in the construction sector and the continuing challenges in the agriculture sector, will impact how we deploy our resources.
- Changing demographics, including an ageing workforce and a growing number of vulnerable, non-English speaking, and migrant workers, represent significant external factors to consider.
During the strategy development process, the Authority engaged in an extensive programme of external stakeholder feedback and public consultation. The stakeholder engagement process involved bilateral interviews, surveys and invitation of submissions from a wide range of internal and external stakeholder groups, including employer, employee and sectoral representative bodies, government departments and agencies, and the general public, in addition to Authority staff.
A high priority was given to maintaining and building on the strengths of the previous strategy. The work of the Authority over the lifetime of the previous strategy was noted by a range of stakeholders, with frequent mention of the range and quality of communications and information provided, greater collaboration and engagement with different sectors, as well as an acknowledgement of the growing mandate of the Authority in areas such as the regulation of chemicals.
Vision: To deliver healthy and safe working lives and contribute to productive enterprises. To regulate, enforce, and promote work-related safety, health, and welfare, and the safe use of chemicals and products; and to provide the national accreditation service.
The Authority’s vision looks further than the three-year period of the strategy. They want, in the longer term, to realise a safe and healthy working life for people in Ireland and to foster environment where businesses can grow and prosper.
Mission: To regulate and promote work-related safety, health, and welfare and the safe use of chemicals and products, and to provide the national accreditation service.
Mandate:
- To regulate the safety, health, and welfare of people at work and those affected by work activities.
- To influence improvement in the safety, health, and welfare of people at work and those affected by work activities.
- To regulate and promote the safe manufacture, use, placing on the market, trade, supply, storage, and transport of chemicals.
- To strengthen market surveillance in relation to relevant single European market legislation.
- To be the national accreditation body for Ireland.
The CORE values of the Authority are:
Collaboration: to listen, consult and collaborate with employees, employers, stakeholders and partners.
Outcome focus: To focus on achieving better outcomes.
Responsiveness: To drive continuous improvement through innovation. To use data to inform what they do, and to evaluate and share learnings.
Ethics: To uphold the highest professional, governance and ethical standards. To earn trust by being accountable and delivering their services in a rigorous, consistent and fair manner.
Details of the strategy and activity plan
Strategic Priorities:
In the next three years, the Authority will be focused on meeting their expanded mandate. They will be guided by three strategic priorities, and focus on a number of specific goals including activities, which are set out under each of the strategic priorities
Strategic Priorities and Goals
Strategic Priority 1: Build and Support Compliance
Strategic goals of the next three years
- identify and focus on the areas of highest risk where the greatest impact can be achieved,
- support compliance while enforcing where required
- be forward-thinking and scan the horizon for emerging issues and technologies and identify research needs
Expected outcomes
- Risk-profiling of processes based on evidence and data.
- An efficient and effective regulatory and enforcement system, that supports compliance.
- An agile, innovative methodology, capable of responding to emerging issues.
- Strengthened relationships with regulators to deliver more effective outcomes.
- Enterprises, duty holders and stakeholders are well-informed and equipped to comply with regulatory requirements.
Strategic Priority 2: Influence, Educate and Collaborate
Strategic goals of the next three years
- focus key messages on small enterprises, self-employed, and vulnerable workers,
- proactively influence policy and legislation using the Authority’s expertise,
- develop a culture of collaboration with industry, stakeholders and education providers.
Expected outcomes
- Increased engagement with small enterprises, self-employed individuals, and vulnerable workers.
- Strengthened collaboration with stakeholders and education providers.
- Recognised as a leading contributor on policy and legislation relevant to their mandate.
Strategic Priority 3: Organisational Excellence
Strategic goals of the next three years
- seek to ensure the Authority has the right skills for the future,
- be innovative and agile,
- better measure the outcomes of their work, and
- maximise the value of the investment made in technology.
Expected outcomes
- Optimally structured and agile organisation, with internal competence complemented by external expertise, to adapt to demands.
- An effective reporting model to allow the Authority to allocate resources and measure the strategic outcomes of their work.
- Greater integration and co-ordination of systems and data to maximise efficiencies and quality.
- their people are supported and empowered to succeed in their roles.
Programme of work 2026
The Authority will deliver the strategy through the development and implementation of annual programmes of work, which will be submitted to the Minister for approval. These programmes will specify the actions and key performance indicators (KPIs) that will support the achievement of the strategic goals. Progress on the annual programmes of work that implement this strategy will be monitored using a range of qualitative and quantitative measures. In setting metrics, the Authority will focus not just on measurement of activities but will also look to measure the expected strategic outcomes.
The Programme of Work 2026[7] has been developed in a wider context of economic volatility and change, both in Ireland and internationally. Partnership is a key theme across the 2026 Programme of Work. The cornerstone of the occupational health and occupational safety mandates for 2026 will be the delivery of a comprehensive compliance programme.
Annual programme of work for 2026
Strategic Priority 1: Build and Support Compliance
Goal: Identify and focus on the areas of highest risk where the greatest impact can be achieved
- Deliver a comprehensive programme of risk-based, evidence-led workplace health and safety inspections across all sectors of the economy.
- Respond appropriately to serious workplace incidents, complaints and emergencies.
- Utilise data to identify specific sectors that pose the highest health and safety risks, and respond with a targeted range of enforcement, compliance and awareness-raising interventions.
- Use the insights and objectives of our Construction Safety Partnership, Farm Safety Partnership and Health and Social Care Advisory Committee action plans to inform their risk-based approach.
- Along with the construction, agriculture and healthcare sectors, they will also target a number of other high-risk sectors for workplace health and safety inspections, including manufacturing, utilities, ports, quarries and waste industries.
- Conduct targeted occupational health and hygiene inspections across key sectors, with a focus on chemical The Authority will, biological and physical agents, along with health surveillance and first aid.
- Continue to assess their processes to ensure psychosocial risks are regulated in an efficient, effective and proportionate manner.
- Participate in and support EU enforcement and compliance campaigns in health and safety.
- Work with their European partner authorities and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to play a leading role in supporting delivery of the European Chemicals Strategy for the safe and sustainable use of chemicals. In 2026, their technical experts will:
- Help identify hazards posed by chemical substances
- Collaborate with other competent authorities in the development of scientific opinions on potentially hazardous chemical substances.
- Deliver a comprehensive programme of risk-based inspections targeting the handling, storage and transport of dangerous substances. In 2026, this will also include interventions at petrol stations and healthcare facilities.
- Continue to conduct market surveillance on industrial and chemical products. In 2026, this will include participation in EU-wide enforcement activities targeting high-risk chemical products; and continued participation in EU harmonised projects, including personal protective equipment (PPE) for workers.
- Assess safety reports, evaluate significant modifications and provide land use planning advice for establishments that fall under the Control of Majo
Goal: Support compliance while enforcing where required
- Hold duty holders to account by using their full range of enforcement powers, up to and including recommending prosecutions where necessary.
- Monitor, assess and investigate current trends in fatal and serious workplace incidents, responding as appropriate through inspections, guidance and enforcement actions where necessary.
- Continue to deliver a victim-centred approach when investigating serious workplace incidents.
- Design and deliver a series of evidence-based activities to promote improved health and safety outcomes in key sectors, including hospitality, financial services, the public sector, education, arts, motor vehicle maintenance and others.
- Focus on engaging with large multi-site employers, in order to ensure consistency, clarity and high health and safety standards across all site locations.
- Strengthen and promote their suite of compliance support tools, including BeSMART, WorkPositive, and HSALearning.ie.
- As part of the Irish National Accreditation Board Strategy for Accreditation 2022-2026, grow the number of accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies in Ireland to meet demand, and support Irish industry
Goal: Be forward-thinking and scan the horizon for emerging issues and technologies
- Work collaboratively with their partners across the Irish public sector to understand future challenges, anticipate emerging risks, and contribute to the design of whole-of- Government policy responses.
- This will be underpinned by their horizon scanning processes, which will utilise current data and evidence to define priority areas for research, and anticipate developments in the future world of work.
- Work collaboratively with their European partners, through ECHA, the European Commission and other appropriate forums, to identify and address emerging regulatory challenges.
- Promote the online asbestos notification system to support increased efficiency for businesses, and check documentary compliance against the current guide and industry standards.
- Promote enhanced notification systems for occupational diseases, working with stakeholders in healthcare to develop pathways to gather information on occupational illnesses, and inform their occupational health programme.
- Through their leading involvement in the EU-OSHA Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2026–2028, they will focus on mental health and psychosocial risks at work
Strategic Priority 2: Influence, Educate and Collaborate
Goal: Focus key messages on small enterprises, self-employed, and vulnerable workers
- Design and implement initiatives and interventions tailored to the needs of small and medium enterprises, self-employed individuals, and vulnerable workers, including targeted, sector-specific guidance.
- Develop communication strategies and public outreach initiatives to support their regulatory and enforcement activities, concentrating on areas with the highest risk.
- Expand the resources available for workplace safety representatives, including information on work-related psychosocial risks.
- Introduce an occupational health framework to guide employers and other key stakeholders.
Goal: Proactively influence policy and legislation using their expertise
- Continue to provide technical expertise to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment in the development of new occupational health and safety regulations in a number of areas, including renewable energy; construction; carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances; asbestos; and the transposition of the EU Platform Directive into domestic law
- Actively participate in the EU Senior Labour Inspector Committee and the Advisory Committee on Safety and Health and associated working groups, to ensure Ireland remains a key voice in the development of occupational health and safety policy and regulation at EU level.
- Provide technical expertise in support of reform of EU chemicals regulations, which will seek to balance the creation of a streamlined regulatory model with the need to protect human health.
- Hold a client forum for the Conformity Assessment Bodies accredited by the Irish National Accreditation Board and support the Eurachem Analytical Measurement Competition (EAMC).
Goal: Develop a culture of collaboration with industry, stakeholders and education providers
- Maximise opportunities for knowledge exchange with the public sector partners, in order to broaden their insights and support safe and productive work activity.
- Collaborate with external stakeholders in order to build specialist knowledge, share expertise, and better inform the resources they offer to employers.
- Establish occupational health and safety learning outcomes for education providers and workplaces.
- Utilise opportunities to collaborate with the EU-level partners, access specialist knowledge and expertise, benefit from the latest technical and scientific research, and influence and amplify key messages through the EU networks.
- Support the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment in their engagements as part of reform and simplification of EU chemicals regulations.
- Work with stakeholders to raise awareness and understanding of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations and the Code of Practice on Industrial Trucks.
Strategic Priority 3: Organisational Excellence
Goal: Ensure the Authority has the right skills for the future
- Continue to manage their recruitment process to ensure to attract and retain candidates with the skills and experience they need to deliver their mandate.
- Provide extensive learning and development programmes for all of the Authority’s people, tailored to support them in their specific roles, ranging from technical and IT skills to management and leadership development.
- Review, update and strengthen their core inspector development programme.
- Work with other organisations to explore opportunities for joint training and knowledge-sharing, including in key areas such as investigation skills and regulation of artificial intelligence.
- Build on the success of the Leadership Academy Programme in 2025 by implementing improvements across a range of organisational areas, with a focus on key themes identified in the Work Positive survey.
Goal: Be innovative and agile
- Undertake a comprehensive review of our current risk management framework, to ensure swift identification and mitigation of potential challenges or disruptions
- Embed the principles of ISO9001 into their operations in order to support best practice, consistency, customer focus and continuous improvement.
- Explore opportunities to leverage artificial intelligence in a proactive and secure manner to increase efficiencies in their day-to-day activity, in line with public sector guidance.
- Ensure that the Authority is prepared for a major emergency or crisis incident by embedding a resilience framework that will ensure business continuity, crisis management and disaster recovery.
- Facilitate professional and innovative delivery of the Authority’s EU presidency programme, with events organised to the highest standard, showcasing the best locations, facilities and engagement opportunities for visitors from across Europe.
Goal: Measure better the outcomes of their work
- Develop and test their pilot approach to outcomes-based reporting, setting clear goals, utilising simple tracking tools and conducting regular reviews of a number of pilot projects, in order to demonstrate the benefits and impacts of their work.
- Leverage advanced data collection and workflow technologies to enhance reporting of inspection results, enforcement decisions, and stakeholder interactions.
- Complete a review of the delivery of Authority’s People Strategy and Communications Strategy, bring forward key objectives to the next strategy cycle, and consider new objectives to support delivery of the Authority’s 2025-2027 Strategy Statement.
Goal: Maximise the value of the investment made in technology
- Deliver the remaining phases of the Córas case management platform, introducing automation, enhanced functionality and improved workflows to support regulatory operations.
- Deploy mobile-enabled inspection tools and geospatial mapping capabilities to support remote fieldwork, improve planning, visualise risk data, and enhance oversight of chemical sites and control areas.
- Develop the Irish National Accreditation Board’s Client Relationship Management system and other IT tools, in order to maximise effectiveness and efficiency.
- Successfully procure and commence implementation of an IT solution to support their human resources activity.
Actors and stakeholders
Occupational safety and health policy at national level is determined by a twelve-member, tripartite Board, with nominees from the social partners and other interests concerned with safety and health in the workplace.
Because safety is everybody's responsibility there is always wide consultation with employers, employees, and representative organisations.
HSA has in place more than 20 memoranda of understanding bi-lateral arrangements or protocols with other state bodies. HSA also leads or participates in a number of advisory groups (agriculture, construction, healthcare, workplace transport, technical and scientific, regional) that bring together representatives from industry, unions, other state agencies, local authorities and third-level institutions to meet their strategic goals and their vision of healthy, safe and productive live.
Resources and timeframe
The period of the Authority’s Strategy Statement runs from 2025–2027.
Evaluation/lessons learned
An analysis of the goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set for the 2022-2024 strategy shows strong evidence of achievement of overall goals under each of the main strategic priorities.
Conclusions of review of the Strategy 2022-2024 which have informed the current strategy were:
- The number of non-fatal incidents increased in 2022 and 2023 as people returned to work, though the non-fatal incident rate, as a percentage of the number of persons in employment, has fallen. Incident rates will be monitored through a strong emphasis on supporting and building compliance in the new strategy.
- Farming and construction accounted for three-quarters of all work-related fatalities in recent years and these sectors will continue to be a focus in the new strategy.
- The rate of fatal accidents is far higher than the national average among self-employed people and workers in small or micro-enterprises. Particular emphasis will be placed on getting the Authority’s messages out to smaller businesses during this strategy.
- The Authority continued to develop its programmes, tools, and services, including BeSMART.ie, farmsafely.com, hsalearning.ie, WorkPositiveCI, chemical helpdesk, customer contact centre and website. As the Authority continues to develop its digitalisation programme during the next strategy, it will look to improve the effectiveness of these customer-facing systems.
- In 2022 and 2023, the Authority participated in numerous EU and international committees and working groups across our OSH, chemicals, and market surveillance mandates. Efforts to influence EU policy and legislation will remain a priority.
- Within the strategy period, a range of inter-agency agreements were introduced or updated to facilitate and optimise our interactions with other public bodies. The Authority will aim to identify and engage in further agreements to facilitate efficient delivery of the goals of the new strategy.
- A five-year Strategy for Accreditation 2022-2026 was launched by INAB in May 2022 and the implementation of the accreditation strategy will continue through the first two years of the Authority’s strategy.
- Staff numbers increased from 204.8 FTEs in 2021 to 268.3 in Q1 of 2024. Training and onboarding initiatives were enhanced to support new staff in delivering across all mandates. We will prioritise staff development and retention to ensure that we have the correct skills and expertise available during the next strategy and into the longer term.
- The Authority completed the initial phase of Córas, a new MS Dynamics platform designed to enhance our regulatory business processes across some of our key areas. The investment in digital technologies will continue into the new strategy with a particular emphasis on customer-facing applications and maximising the use of the Authority’s data to help direct its work.
Key Performance Indicators 2026[8]
Output target metrics 2026 | |
| Inspections (OSH) | 11,550 |
| Inspections (Chemicals Act and Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road) | 900 |
| Market Surveillance assessments (Chemical Products) | 750 |
| Market Surveillance assessments (Industrial Products) | 450 |
| New users of BeSMART | 15,000 |
| Scientific opinions prepared for ECHA Committees | 6 |
| Accreditation decisions (new applications) | 15 |
| Accreditation decisions (renewal of existing accreditation or extensions to scope) | 420 |
HSA Learning course taken
| 65,000 |
Events hosted by HSA during the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU
| 4 |
Relationship to EU Strategic Framework
Important considerations for the strategy include all key objectives of the EU Strategic framework. The three key objectives of the EU Strategic Framework are covered by the three Strategic Priorities with their Strategic Goals including the key actions.
Some examples:
Key objective 1 of the EU Strategic Framework (Anticipating and managing change) is covered by the Strategic Priority 1 and the three related Strategic Gaols with their key actions:
Identify and focus on the areas of highest risk where the greatest impact can be achieved,
Support compliance while enforcing where required
Be forward-thinking and scan the horizon for emerging issues and technologies and identify research needs. One focus, for example, is on mental health and psychosocial risks at work.
Labour market participation of older workers and other vulnerable groups is covered also by the Strategic Priority 2, Strategic Goal: Focus key message on small enterprises, self-employed and vulnerable workers.
Key objective 2 the EU Strategic Framework (Improving prevention of work-related diseases and accidents) is covered by the Strategic Priority 1 and 2.
A focus on hazardous substances and the establishment of OSH limit values is covered in Strategic Priority 2 Strategic Goal: Proactively influence policy and legislation using Authority’s expertise as well as in Strategic Goal: Develop a culture of collaboration with industry, stakeholders and education providers (reform and simplification of EU chemical regulation)
Key objective 3 of the EU Strategic Framework (Increasing preparedness – responding rapidly to threats) is covered by the Strategic Priority 3 and its Strategic Goals. For example, preparedness is covered by the Strategic Goal: Be innovative and agile.
