Over 400 licensed premises in Ireland have signed up to a cellar safety programme spearheaded by the Irish Brewers Association (IBA) and the Health & Safety Authorities (HSA) since its launch last year.
It is estimated that there are approximately 4,000 accidents on licensed premises every year. The programme is designed for publicans and bar managers to enhance safety on their premises, and in particular in their cellars, to avoid such incidents taking place.
As part of the programme, licensed premises are encouraged to carry out risk assessments on their bar and cellar. This can be done online through Besmart.ie and involves identifying potential hazards and ensuring employees are fully briefed on avoiding accidents. After the assessment is done, the premises get a Safety Statement, which is a legal requirement.
Aiming To Improve Safety
Jonathan McDade, head of the IBA, stated, "While bar cellars can be perfectly safe environments to work, a failure to meet the minimum safety standards can result in serious accidents for bar staff, gas installers and beer dispense technicians.
"Following a few serious accidents in bar cellars in Europe over the past few years, we felt it was important to work with the HSA to develop a programme to avoid accidents on Irish licensed premises.
"The Cellar Safety Programme is the first of its kind in Ireland and aims to improve safety in the workplace environment for thousands of workers and service providers, and for customers of the hospitality sector.
"In addition to enhancing the safety for individuals working within cellars, risk assessments are legally required under health and safety regulations. Failure to conduct these may result in prosecution from the relevant authorities.
"To help with this process, as part of this project, we have developed six case studies outlining how some licensed premises are managing safety. They deal with some of the more significant hazards such as CO2 in cellars, fire, keg handling, waste management, unfamiliar workplaces and slips, trips and falls. They are also freely available on Besmart.ie.
"We are encouraging those in the hospitality sector who haven’t signed up to log on to Besmart.ie and carry out an assessment."
© 2018 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
