Safety, Health and Welfare At Work (Night Work and Shift Work) Regulations, 1998
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

num: 1
paragraphs: (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Night Work and Shift Work) Regulations, 1998.
2 Interpretation
num: 2
paragraphs: (1) In these Regulations—
"the Principal Act" means the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 (No. 7 of 1989);
"the 1997 Act" means the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 (No. 20 of 1997);
"the Directive" means Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time 1;
"night work" and "night worker" have the same meaning as they have in the 1997 Act;
"the Principal Regulations" means the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations, 1993 ( S.I. No. 44 of 1993 ).
(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in these Regulations that it has in the Directive.
(3) In these Regulations a reference to a paragraph is a reference to a paragraph of the Regulation in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulation is intended.
3 Application
num: 3
paragraphs: (1) These Regulations shall apply to—
(a) an employee and employer to whom the 1997 Act applies, and
(b) a self-employed person as they apply to an employer and as if that self-employed person was an employer and his or her own employee.
(2) The provisions of these Regulations are in addition to, and not in substitution for, Part II of the Principal Regulations.
4 General duty with respect to night workers and shift workers
num: 4
paragraphs: It shall be the duty of every employer—
(a) to take such steps as, having regard to the nature of the work concerned, are appropriate for the protection of the safety and health of an employee who is a night worker or a shift worker,
(b) in taking steps to comply with Regulation 8 of the Principal Regulations, to have regard to his or her duty under paragraph (a).
5 Risk assessment
num: 5
paragraphs: (1) For the purposes of section 16 (2)(a) of the 1997 Act, it shall be the duty of an employer to carry out an assessment in relation to the risks, being risks to the safety and health of the employee concerned, that attach to the work that a night worker is employed to do so as to determine whether that work involves special hazards or a heavy physical or mental strain.
(2) An assessment referred to in paragraph (1) shall take into account the specific effects and hazards of night work.
(3) In determining for the purposes of this Regulation whether particular work involves special hazards or a heavy physical or mental strain, regard shall be had to the assessment of risks at the place of work concerned referred to in section 12(3) of the Principal Act and Regulation 10 of the Principal Regulations.
6 Health assessment and transfer to day work
num: 6
paragraphs: (1) shall be the duty of an employer—
(a) before he or she employs an employee to do night work, and
(b) at regular intervals during the period that the employee is employed in doing such work,
(2) Such an assessment—
(a) shall be carried out by a registered medical practitioner or a person acting under his or her supervision,
(b) if the employee has such an entitlement, may be made available to the employee by informing him or her of his or her entitlement to have such an assessment carried out by the State, free of charge, and facilitating the employee in his or her availing himself or herself of that entitlement.
(3) The person who carries out an assessment referred to in paragraph (1) shall—
(a) endeavour to detect if the health of the employee concerned is being or will be adversely affected by reason of the fact that he or she performs or will perform night work,
(b) on the completion of the assessment, inform the employer and employee concerned of his or her opinion as to whether the employee is fit or unfit to perform the night work concerned and, if that opinion is that the employee is unfit to perform that night work by reason only of the particular conditions under which that work is performed, of his or her opinion of what changes in those conditions could be made that would result in his or her being able to consider the employee fit to perform that work.
(4) Neither a registered medical practitioner nor a person acting under his or her supervision shall disclose—
(a) the clinical details of an assessment referred to in paragraph (1) to any person other than the employee concerned or an occupational medical adviser,
or
(b) the results of such an assessment to any person other than the employee and employer concerned.
(5) If an employee who is employed to do night work becomes ill or otherwise exhibits symptoms of ill-health, and that illness or those symptoms is or are recognised as being connected with the fact that the employee performs night work, the employer shall, whenever possible, assign duties to the employee to perform that do not involve the employee performing any night work and to which he or she is suited.
Given under my hand, this 16th day of December, 1998.
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.