Local government in Ireland consists of a number of local and regional authorities and municipal districts. There are:

• at county/city level:  26 County Councils, 3 City Councils, 2 City and County Councils.
• at municipal district level:  95 municipal districts.
• at regional level: 3 regional assemblies

The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) is a state agency of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government. It is a shared repository of best practice providing research and specialist expertise for the Local Government sector, including in the area of occupational safety management.

Local Authorities have responsibility for delivery of a wide range of services in their local area with a focus on making towns and cities attractive places to live, work and invest. These services include;

• Environment
• Fire & Emergency
• Water Services
• Roads
• Housing
• Planning
• Motor tax
• Finance
• Library & recreation
• Parks & heritage

Local authorities aim to deliver quality in all these services to the public, while at the same time ensuring compliance with legislation including safety, health and welfare at work duties. Regardless of whether local authorities use their own workforce or contract out their work activities and service delivery, it is important to take ownership of the risks created and take proportionate steps to manage those risks so that attention is focused on the significant risks that cause injury and ill health.

Some aspects of local authority work can present a risk of real harm or suffering to employees, contractors, service users and the public, including

1. Roadworks
2. Construction activities
3. Plant & machinery (e.g. Work Related Vehicle Safety, Chainsaw Safety Training Advice Information Sheet etc.)
4. Work on or near water
5. Fire and emergencies

Local authorities have management processes and arrangements to deal with many aspects of its business (e.g. payroll, personnel issues, finance and quality control), managing health and safety is no different.

The HSA encourages a common-sense and practical approach to managing health and safety. It should be part of the everyday process of running the organisation and an integral part of workplace behaviours and attitudes.

The core elements to effectively managing for health and safety are:

• leadership and management;
• a trained/skilled workforce;
• an environment where people are trusted and involved.

underpinned by an understanding of the profile of risks the organisation creates or faces.

The risk profile of an organisation informs all aspects of the approach to leading and managing its health and safety risks. Every organisation will have its own risk profile. This is the starting point for determining the greatest health and safety issues for the organisation.

A risk profile examines:

• the nature and level of the threats faced by an organisation
• the likelihood of adverse effects occurring
• the level of disruption and costs associated with each type of risk
• the effectiveness of controls in place to manage those risks

The outcome of risk profiling will be that the right risks have been identified and prioritised for action. These must then be communicated to staff.