Safety Statement Template (Ireland) — Section 20 of the 2005 Act
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A Safety Statement template written for Irish employers under Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. Every employer in Ireland — from a sole trader up — is legally required to have one. Built around the General Principles of Prevention, the General Application Regulations 2007, and the realities of an HSA inspection.
Designed for: Every Irish employer and self-employed person — Section 20 applies regardless of business size or sector
Ireland (RAMS) example document — Single-Storey Side Extension — 18 Glasnevin Avenue, Dublin. Client: Mr & Mrs Kavanagh (Private Client). Site: 18 Glasnevin Avenue, Dublin 11, D11 X2K7. Scope: Construction of a 5.0 m × 3.6 m single-storey side extension: strip foundations to 900 mm, cavity blockwork superstructure, flat warm roof with single-ply membrane, rooflight and new structural opening into the existing kitchen. Works programmed over 9 weeks with a peak site team of 4 operatives.
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Complete Guide to Safety Statement (Ireland)
What is a Safety Statement?
A Safety Statement is a written document, required under Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, that sets out how an employer manages safety, health and welfare in the workplace. It is built on the findings of the risk assessment required under Section 19 of the same Act, and it must name the people responsible for safety, the resources committed to it, and the arrangements in place. It is the single most important safety document an Irish employer must hold.
When is it legally required?
Section 20 applies to every employer in Ireland — there is no size exemption. A sole trader employing one person needs one. So does a multinational with thousands of employees. The Safety Statement must be in writing, must be based on the risk assessment, must be reviewed at least annually (and after any incident or significant change), and must be available to inspectors on request. Failure to have one is a Category 1 offence under the 2005 Act.
Who is responsible?
The employer is legally responsible for the Safety Statement. It must be prepared by a competent person — someone with the training, experience and knowledge to identify hazards in the business and select appropriate controls. For small businesses the owner-manager often prepares it themselves using the HSA's BeSMART.ie tool as a baseline; larger organisations typically engage a competent safety advisor.
Where is it commonly used?
Every Irish workplace — office, shop, restaurant, building site, factory, farm, school, surgery, salon. It is the document an HSA inspector will ask to see at the start of any visit, the document main contractors require from subcontractors during pre-qualification, and the document insurers ask to see when underwriting a public-liability or employers'-liability policy.
What a Complete Safety Statement Includes
- Employer details — name, registered address, ownership/directors
- Statement of safety policy signed by the most senior person in the business
- Names of the people with safety responsibilities and what each is accountable for
- Hazard identification and risk assessment findings under Section 19
- Controls applied through the General Principles of Prevention (Schedule 3 of the 2005 Act)
- Arrangements for consultation with employees and Safety Representatives
- Arrangements for training, information and instruction
- Emergency procedures — fire, evacuation, first aid, serious and imminent danger
- Specific arrangements required by the General Application Regs 2007 (DSE, manual handling, noise, vibration, chemical agents, PPE)
- Construction-specific arrangements if the business operates on construction sites (Safe Pass, CSCS, PSCS interface)
- Annual review date and version history
- Competent person sign-off and date
What's included in this template
Business Details & Safety Policy
Employer name, address, signed safety policy statement.
Responsibilities
Named people with safety duties — owner, safety lead, supervisors, Safety Representatives.
Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment
Summary of Section 19 findings for every activity and location.
Control Measures
Controls in place, applied through the General Principles of Prevention.
Consultation Arrangements
Safety Representative, safety committee, communication with employees.
Training & Competence
Induction, ongoing training, Safe Pass / CSCS where relevant.
Emergency Procedures
Fire, evacuation, first aid, serious and imminent danger.
Specific Arrangements
DSE, manual handling, noise, vibration, chemical agents, PPE.
Construction-Specific Arrangements
PSCS interface, Safe Pass / CSCS register, RAMS process — where applicable.
Review
Annual review date, version history, trigger events.
Sign-Off
Senior responsible person, date, signature.
Ireland Requirements and Best Practice
Legal expectations
- ● Written Safety Statement based on the Section 19 risk assessment — Section 20, 2005 Act
- ● Brought to the attention of employees in a form, manner and language they understand — Section 20(3)
- ● Reviewed at least annually and after any incident or significant change
- ● Available to HSA inspectors on request
- ● Signed by a senior responsible person — typically a director or owner-manager
- ● Updated when the business activity, employees or premises change
What inspectors typically look for
- ● Is the Safety Statement specific to this business and these premises — or a generic template downloaded years ago?
- ● Is it dated within the last 12 months?
- ● Does it name the people with safety responsibilities, and do those people exist in the business?
- ● Are the control measures in the document actually in place on the day of inspection?
- ● Is there evidence employees have been briefed on it (signed acknowledgements, induction records)?
- ● Are Safety Representative arrangements documented where employees have appointed one?
Common compliance mistakes
- Having no Safety Statement at all — a Category 1 offence
- Using a UK Health & Safety Policy as if it were a Safety Statement (different legislation, different structure)
- Generic template never tailored to the actual business
- Safety Statement that doesn't match the actual operations — for example, no reference to a manufacturing process the business runs daily
- No annual review — same document signed five years ago
- No evidence employees have been told what's in it
- Naming a safety manager who left the business two years ago
Example Use Cases
Sole-trader plumber based in Wexford
A self-employed plumber working on domestic and small commercial jobs writes a focused 8-page Safety Statement covering the activities they actually do — boiler work, soldering and hot works, working at height on stepladders, manual handling, lone working, and vehicle use. The document references their public-liability insurance, Safe Pass card and RGI registration. Reviewed every year on the same date as their tax return.
12-person retail shop in Limerick
A small electronics retailer writes a Safety Statement covering shop-floor activity, deliveries and unloading, manual handling of stock, DSE workstations in the back office, lone working at closing time, and fire/evacuation arrangements. Two Safety Representatives are named, induction records reference the statement, and it's reviewed every January.
Construction subcontractor working across Leinster sites
A 6-person carpentry subcontractor maintains a Safety Statement that doubles as the document main contractors request during PSCS vetting. It covers all activities the firm carries out, names the safety lead, lists Safe Pass and CSCS cards for every operative, references the firm's standard RAMS templates, and is updated annually plus after each major contract award.
How to use this template
- 1
Complete your risk assessment first
Section 20 is built on Section 19 — the Safety Statement summarises what the risk assessment found.
- 2
Write the safety policy statement
A short, signed commitment from the most senior person in the business.
- 3
Name your people
Who is the safety lead? Who are the Safety Representatives? Real names, real roles.
- 4
Document the controls
What's actually in place to manage each hazard? Tie controls back to the General Principles of Prevention.
- 5
Add specific arrangements
DSE, manual handling, noise, vibration, chemical agents — where the General Application Regs 2007 apply.
- 6
Brief your employees
Section 20(3) requires the statement to be brought to employees' attention in a form they understand.
- 7
Set the annual review date
Block out the date. Review every year and after any incident or significant change.
Common mistakes to avoid
- No Safety Statement at all — the single most common HSA finding on first inspection
- Using a UK 'Health & Safety Policy' template (different legal regime — won't satisfy Section 20)
- Generic template downloaded once and never updated
- Safety Statement that doesn't reflect the actual business — wrong activities, wrong premises, wrong people
- Naming a safety manager or Safety Representative who no longer works there
- No evidence employees have been briefed on it (no signed induction or acknowledgement)
- No annual review — same document, same date, year after year
Share or Use This Template
This Safety Statement template is free to use and share. Feel free to reference it with your team, include it in training materials, or link to it from your own resources.
Why templates have limitations
Templates provide a solid starting point, but they require manual editing to match your specific site conditions, hazards, and work activities. This can be time-consuming and important site-specific risks may be missed if sections are left generic.
For projects where accuracy and speed matter, many contractors prefer tools that generate structured documents automatically based on real project inputs.
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Templates and documents should be reviewed by a competent person before use. Riskora provides tools to assist in the preparation of safety documentation — final responsibility rests with the user and their organisation.