Councils in court challenge to HSA

Several local authorities are fighting an attempt by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) to force them to improve their management of roadworks, The Irish Times has learned. The notices issued by the HSA refer to alleged deficiencies in the councils' handling of roadworks, and in particular, concerns around unfinished road surfaces.

Just under a third of the 28 councils which have received enforcement notices from the HSA have decided to challenge the recommendations in the courts.

Limerick and Clare County Councils are among the first councils to have their cases heard: both were mentioned in Limerick and Clare District Courts last week.

The majority of councils have agreed to change their management of roadworks in their area.

However, a significant minority, said to be just under 10, have indicated that they intend to resist the recommendations.

The HSA wrote to almost all local authorities following a state-wide inspection of roadwork sites. This inspection was prompted by concerns over temporary road surfaces following the death of five schoolgirls in the Kentstown schoolbus crash in Co Meath in 2005, and the death of Aisling Gallagher in a crash in Co Mayo that is still the subject of a HSA investigation.

The inspectors found significant safety concerns at sites directly under the councils' control and those where a contractor was employed. A key part of the investigation was the use of dense bitumen macadam (DBM), a bottom layer road-making material that is not recommended for use as a final surface.

The inspections also showed dangerous flaws in the "inadequate" safety plans drawn up by the local authorities for temporary road surfaces. Warning signs and the enforcement of temporary speed limits around roadwork sites were adjudged inadequate by the inspectors.

Based on these findings, the HSA wrote to those councils it considered in breach, outlining the remedial steps it wished to see implemented.

An HSA spokesman confirmed that "a number" of local authorities were opposing the enforcement notices.

The HSA is expected to argue that unfinished roads, even those where work has been temporarily suspended, remain places of work.

Late last year the HSA wrote to the Department of Transport and the NRA outlining a number of concerns at the use of DBM. It also pointed out that, as a general rule, gardaí investigating a crash concentrate their investigations on driver behaviour when looking for a cause of the crash.

The HSA said no agency examined the role of surfaces and other environmental factors in crashes, and that this weakness needed to be addressed.

The Department of Transport has admitted it is concerned at the extent to which local authorities are complying with guidelines for carrying out roadworks.

It established an expert technical group last September which includes senior representatives from the Departments of Transport, Environment and experts from the NRA and the HSA.

A spokeswoman for the Department said this group has met a number of times.