Health and safety training online in Ireland: what the 2005 Act asks of employers and employees, and what an induction course should cover

The employer's duties

Section 8 of the 2005 Act is the general duty: ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of employees. It lists what that means, including managing work to prevent improper conduct likely to put people at risk, a safe place of work and safe access, safe plant and machinery, safe systems of work, information, instruction, training and supervision, protective equipment where risks cannot be removed, emergency plans, and a competent person where needed.

Section 10 is the training section. Employers must give instruction, training and supervision in a form, manner and language that employees are reasonably likely to understand, taking account of their capabilities, and in particular on recruitment, on transfer or change of task, and when new work equipment, systems or technology come in. Training must be during working hours where possible and at no cost to the employee.

Section 19 requires a written risk assessment, and section 20 a safety statement that sets out how safety, health and welfare will be secured, the hazards and risks identified, the protective measures, the emergency plans, the duties of employees and the names of the people responsible. Section 25 provides for safety representatives chosen by employees, and section 26 for consultation.

The employee's duties

Section 13 asks every employee to comply with the law and take reasonable care for their own safety and that of others; not to be under the influence of an intoxicant; to co-operate with the employer; to attend training and undergo assessment the employer reasonably requires; to use equipment and protective clothing properly; and to report defects and dangers. Section 14 forbids interfering with anything provided for safety.

What the HSA expects

The HSA's managing health and safety pages, read on 9 November 2026, set out a management-system approach, from policy and planning through to measuring and auditing, aimed at larger enterprises and usable by smaller ones. For most workplaces the HSA's practical expectation is a current safety statement, a risk assessment that matches the work, induction and task training that staff can understand, and records of all three. HSA inspectors ask for the safety statement first.

What a general course should cover

• The 2005 Act: what the employer must do, what you must do, and what a safety statement is.
• Risk assessment: hazard, risk, control, and how to read the assessment for your own job.
• The common hazards: slips, trips and falls, manual handling, display screen equipment, electricity, chemicals and fire.
• Accidents, near misses and dangerous occurrences: what to do, who to tell and what the employer must report to the HSA.
• Safety representatives and how to raise a concern.

Lift College's Health and Safety Training (Ireland) is 2 hours in 6 modules, written for Ireland with the 2005 Act, the 2007 General Application Regulations and the HSA, with a check after every module and a dated, verifiable certificate. It is priced in euros. It costs €22.99, pay once, with 14-day money back. Lift College recommends a refresh every 3 years, free.

What it cannot do

• Write the safety statement or the risk assessment. Those are the employer's and must describe this workplace.
• Replace task-specific training: manual handling, work at height, abrasive wheels, chemicals and fire have their own courses and, in some cases, their own legal requirements.
• Stand in for the construction sector's SOLAS Safe Pass, which is a separate one-day programme required to work on construction sites.

Where to go next

• See the course: Health and Safety Training (Ireland).
• Task courses: Manual Handling Training (Ireland), Working at Height Training (Ireland), Fire Safety Training (Ireland).
• Browse all Ireland courses, priced in euros.
• Workplaces in the UK should take Health and Safety Training, which covers UK law.