Irish employers in the south and west may face legal action after failing to carry out tests for the radioactive gas radon. Legislation relating to the Health and Safety Authority may also be brought into play against those who do not test workplaces for the gas.
A SIPTU health and safety adviser expressed the union's "outrage" that only half of an initial 3,100 employers in Ennis and Tralee had bothered responding to requests for radon tests. The employers' representative body IBEC said companies would have to comply but that the regulatory authorities had failed to get the message across on the risks posed by radon.
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) demanded monitoring under legislation that requires companies to conduct tests to ensure the safety of workers. "It is with the lawyers at the moment and we are considering legal action against [non-compliant companies]," stated RPII chief executive, Dr Ann McGarry. "It is an offence under the legislation not to take measurements."
The institute's annual report for 2002 highlighted the failure of nearly half of all companies written to in a pilot programme to carry out radon tests. It indicates that of 3,100 employers written to during 2001, 408 took measurements and a further 290 indicated their intention to do so. The remainder "had not replied to correspondence", the annual report indicates.
"We targeted Tralee and Ennis because they are known to be high radon areas. If a workplace has a hazard, the company is required to do something about it," said Dr McGarry yesterday, adding that the RPII had been in discussions with the Health and Safety Authority about joint action on the issue.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that seeps out of the ground. It causes an estimated 200 lung cancer deaths a year, according to the institute. The west, southwest and east are all known to have high radon levels.
"These tests are not expensive, but the results, if there is a problem, can be very costly. We are talking about a matter of life and death," said Mr Sylvester Cronin, SIPTU safety adviser.