Annual Report of Protected Disclosures 2022 

Under the Protected Disclosures Act, the Chief Executive Officer of the Health and Safety Authority is prescribed as a recipient of protected disclosures in relation to all matters associated with legislation enforced by the Health and Safety Authority, and accreditation of laboratories, certification bodies and inspection bodies through the Irish National Accreditation Board within the Health and Safety Authority.  Internal disclosures relating to the Authority can also be made by relevant workers as defined by the Act.

Under Section 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, each public body is required to publish an annual report setting out the number of protected disclosures received in the preceding year and the action taken. The publication of the data in the report must be provided in a way that protects the identity of the disclosers.

From 01 January to 31 December 2022, the Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority, in the context of their role as a prescribed person under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, received twelve (12) protected disclosures from parties external to the Authority and relating to third parties. Of these, eleven (11) disclosures were made directly and one (1) was transferred from another prescribed person.  All disclosures were subsequently referred to Authority inspectors for investigation.  Six (6) of the disclosures received in 2022 have been closed out and six (6) remain under investigation.  No disclosures were received internally.

The table below provides a breakdown of the Protected Disclosures received in 2022, the number of investigations that were opened as a result of the Protected Disclosures and the status and outcome of the investigations which have been concluded.

Investigations and proceedings launched by the Authority as a result of reports received in 2022, and which concluded in 2022, resulted in ten (10) enforcement orders being served which included eight (8) reports of inspection, one (1) prohibition notice, and two (2) improvement notices. 

Eight (8) investigations, opened on foot of protected disclosures received in 2021 or previous years, were still ongoing at 31 December 2021, and all eight (8) were concluded during 2022.