Healthcare Safety Statement
Bespoke Safety Statements for Nursing Homes - HIQA-Aligned - Section 20 SHWW Act - PI Insured
Request a Healthcare Safety Statement
Our qualified consultants prepare bespoke safety statements for nursing homes, hospitals and designated centres across Ireland. Every statement meets Section 20.
Bespoke Safety Statements for Irish Nursing Homes
Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires every employer to prepare a written safety statement. The statement must set out how you secure and manage the safety, health and welfare of your staff. In plain terms: the law expects one document that shows how your home keeps people safe. For nursing homes and designated centres, it must reflect the real hazards and routines of the care environment. Phoenix STS prepares bespoke healthcare safety statements that go far beyond generic templates. Each one documents your safety management arrangements and the specific hazards in your home. It cross-references your risk assessments, details your control measures and assigns clear responsibilities. Every statement we produce aligns with HIQA standards and satisfies both HSA and HIQA inspectors.
Why Healthcare Safety Statements Matter
Legal Requirement (Section 20)
The 2005 Act obliges every employer to prepare a written safety statement built on their risk assessments. Non-compliance is a criminal offence. Put plainly: no statement means you can be prosecuted.
HIQA Expectations
HIQA inspectors expect a facility-specific safety statement when they inspect designated centres and nursing homes. A generic document will not satisfy them.
Comprehensive Documentation
The safety statement is one authoritative document that captures your whole safety management system. Staff and inspectors can find everything in one place.
Staff Awareness
A well-prepared statement tells staff the hazards in their workplace, the controls in place and their own responsibilities for safety.
Risk Management Framework
The statement is the framework for managing risk in your facility. It links hazard identification, risk assessment and control measures in one coherent document.
Insurance and Audits
Insurers and auditors routinely ask for safety statements. A complete, current document shows your commitment to safety and supports better outcomes.
What's Included in Your Safety Statement
Every healthcare safety statement we prepare includes these core parts, as Section 20 requires.
Safety Policy and Commitment
A clear statement of your organisation's commitment to safety, health and welfare. Senior management signs it, setting the tone for safety culture across your facility.
Hazard Identification
A full schedule of the hazards in your facility. It covers clinical areas, communal spaces, kitchens, laundries, outdoor areas and every work activity.
Risk Assessment Summary
A summary of the risk assessments behind each hazard. It shows the risk ratings and the method used to judge how likely and how severe harm could be.
Control Measures and Arrangements
Detailed controls for each risk. We spell out the practical steps, procedures, equipment and training needed to remove risks or reduce them to an acceptable level.
Roles, Responsibilities, and Emergency Procedures
Safety duties assigned to named people at every level. The statement also documents emergency procedures for fire, medical emergencies and evacuation.
Safety Policy and Commitment
A clear statement of your organisation's commitment to safety, health and welfare. Senior management signs it, setting the tone for safety culture across your facility.
Hazard Identification
A full schedule of the hazards in your facility. It covers clinical areas, communal spaces, kitchens, laundries, outdoor areas and every work activity.
Risk Assessment Summary
A summary of the risk assessments behind each hazard. It shows the risk ratings and the method used to judge how likely and how severe harm could be.
Control Measures and Arrangements
Detailed controls for each risk. We spell out the practical steps, procedures, equipment and training needed to remove risks or reduce them to an acceptable level.
Roles, Responsibilities, and Emergency Procedures
Safety duties assigned to named people at every level. The statement also documents emergency procedures for fire, medical emergencies and evacuation.
What We Deliver
Written Safety Statement
A complete, bespoke safety statement for your healthcare facility. It meets every requirement of Section 20 of the 2005 Act.
Hazard Identification Schedule
A structured schedule of every hazard found in your facility. It is organised by area and activity, so it is easy to use and review.
Risk Assessment Cross-References
Clear cross-references linking your safety statement to the risk assessments behind it. The trail shows a systematic approach to managing risk.
H&S Risk Assessments
Healthcare risk assessments that underpin your safety statement. They meet Section 19 of the 2005 Act.
H&S Policies
Tailored health and safety policies for healthcare settings. They add the detailed working procedures that sit beneath your safety statement.
H&S Consultancy
Ongoing health and safety consultancy to support implementation of your statement and keep you compliant.
Healthcare Facilities We Serve
Nursing Homes
Bespoke safety statements for private, voluntary, and HSE nursing homes of all sizes across Ireland.
Hospitals
Safety statement services for public and private hospitals, covering clinical and non-clinical operations.
Disability Services
Specialist safety statements for residential and day services supporting people with intellectual and physical disabilities.
Mental Health
Safety statements tailored to mental health facilities, addressing unique operational and safety challenges.
Respite Care
Safety statements for respite care centres, addressing the specific challenges of short-stay residential services.
Day Care
Complete safety statements for day care centres and day services, covering all activities and facility operations.
Hospices
Sensitive and thorough safety statements for hospice and palliative care facilities, reflecting end-of-life care environments.
Designated Centres
Safety statements designed for HIQA-registered designated centres and aligned with regulatory requirements.
Our Process
Five steps to a bespoke healthcare safety statement that meets legal and regulatory requirements.
Consultation
We start with a detailed conversation about your facility. We cover operations, resident profile, staffing and any concerns or previous inspection findings.
Site Assessment
Our qualified consultants assess your site in person. We review existing documents, inspect every area and identify the hazards specific to your facility.
Drafting
We prepare your bespoke safety statement. It includes hazard identification, risk assessment summaries, control measures, responsibilities and emergency procedures.
Review and Approval
You review the draft with your team. We take your feedback and finalise the document only when you are satisfied.
Delivery and Implementation
You receive the final statement with guidance on implementation, staff communication and ongoing review.
Consultation
We start with a detailed conversation about your facility. We cover operations, resident profile, staffing and any concerns or previous inspection findings.
Site Assessment
Our qualified consultants assess your site in person. We review existing documents, inspect every area and identify the hazards specific to your facility.
Drafting
We prepare your bespoke safety statement. It includes hazard identification, risk assessment summaries, control measures, responsibilities and emergency procedures.
Review and Approval
You review the draft with your team. We take your feedback and finalise the document only when you are satisfied.
Delivery and Implementation
You receive the final statement with guidance on implementation, staff communication and ongoing review.
Legislative Framework
Several pieces of Irish law shape healthcare safety statements. Every nursing home and designated centre needs to know what each one demands.
Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 - Section 20
Section 20 requires every employer to prepare a written safety statement. It must be based on the hazards identified and the risks assessed under Section 19. In practice: the law expects a live document built on your own risk assessments, and the HSA can inspect it at any time.
Why Choose Phoenix STS
HIQA Specialists
Our consultants have extensive experience working with HIQA-registered designated centres.
BEng Engineers
Our team includes qualified BEng engineers who bring technical expertise to every safety statement.
CPD Provider
As an approved CPD provider, we stay at the forefront of health and safety best practice.
25+ Years
With over 25 years of experience in health and safety consultancy.
Nationwide
We provide healthcare safety statement services across all 26 counties of Ireland.
PI Insured
All our work is backed by professional indemnity insurance.
Nationwide Healthcare Safety Statement Services
Phoenix STS prepares healthcare safety statements across all 26 counties, including Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick.
Running a business outside healthcare? See our safety statements service for every other workplace.
A healthcare safety statement must reflect care work
A healthcare safety statement must cover the hazards created by the work, the premises and the people affected. In a nursing home or designated centre, that includes staff, residents, visitors and contractors. A generic office safety statement will not do the job. At a minimum, a healthcare statement must deal with:
- moving and handling of residents
- infection prevention and sharps
- behaviour that challenges
- lone working, especially at night
- medicines-related activity
- slips, trips and falls
- fire and evacuation arrangements
- work equipment and cleaning chemicals
- staff welfare and emergency response
The statement should be built from current risk assessments under Irish health and safety law. The HSA guidance on safety statements and risk assessment links hazard identification, risk assessment and your written safety arrangements. Phoenix STS writes healthcare safety statements that managers and supervisors can actually use, not just file for inspection.
How the statement should be used
The finished statement should explain who does what. It should cover:
- responsibilities and staff consultation
- training and incident reporting
- risk assessment review
- contractor controls
- emergency arrangements
- how safety information reaches staff
It should also link to your local policies rather than contradict them. If the centre has separate fire safety, evacuation, infection control, manual handling or lone-working procedures, the statement should show how they fit together.
For HIQA-regulated services, the statement is only one part of the governance evidence. Inspectors may also look at training records, risk assessments, maintenance records, incident learning and management oversight. Phoenix STS helps you make those links visible. The statement then supports daily management instead of sitting in a file.
Healthcare-specific hazards that should not be missed
Care work brings hazards that generic safety statements understate. Moving and handling involves people, not boxes. Slips and trips affect residents as well as staff. Behaviour that challenges can put staff, other residents and visitors at risk. Cleaning chemicals, sharps, biological hazards, laundry, kitchens, maintenance work and medicines all need specific controls. Your statement should show that each one has been considered in the context of your service.
Fire and evacuation arrangements need careful integration. It is not enough to say staff will evacuate the building. The statement should link to the fire safety policy, evacuation plan, drill programme, training, resident dependency and evacuation equipment. In healthcare, a safe system needs the building, staff competence and resident needs to work together.
Keeping the statement alive
Review the statement when work changes, after significant incidents, when new risks appear, or when legislation or management arrangements change. In a care service, review it too when resident dependency shifts, a new service starts, staffing models change or the building is refurbished. Build these triggers into the document so it never quietly goes out of date.
Phoenix STS can provide the statement as part of a wider review or as a single document update. Where you already have risk assessments and policies, we check consistency before rewriting. Where records are weak, we name the gaps and recommend practical steps to close them. The finished statement should help you run the service, brief staff and answer inspector or insurer queries with confidence.
Clear responsibilities, not generic promises
The statement should make duties clear to managers, nurses, carers, maintenance staff, contractors and visiting services. Broad lines such as 'staff must take care' are not enough. The document should name who reviews risk assessments, who follows up actions, who checks training records, who manages contractors and who escalates risks to senior management.
This matters most in services that run at night, use agency staff or depend on several departments. Fire precautions, moving and handling, infection prevention and lone working all rely on day-to-day supervision. The statement should describe the real service, not an ideal version of it.
Review and evidence
Material changes should prompt a review. These include a change in resident profile, refurbishment, new equipment, revised work practices, a serious incident or a pattern of near misses. Check too that training records, risk assessments, fire safety records and incident investigations tell the same story.
The most useful evidence is current and traceable. You should be able to produce the statement, risk assessments, action logs, training records and consultation records on request. Phoenix STS structures statements so they work as live management tools, not files kept only for audit.
Consultation with staff
Staff consultation should be visible in the process. Nurses, carers, housekeeping, maintenance and managers each see different parts of the same risk. Their input catches what a desk review misses: repeated handling difficulties, awkward storage, recurring slips, delayed repairs or tasks done differently from the written procedure.
A useful consultation record is simple. It shows who was consulted, what was raised, what was agreed and what could not change straight away. That honesty helps you prioritise improvements across the service.
Where actions remain open, the statement should describe the interim controls in place. That is better than a perfect document that does not match the service. It also gives inspectors and senior managers a plain view of risk. The record supports a clearer annual review too.
Related Healthcare Services
Healthcare Safety Statement FAQs
Common questions about healthcare safety statements for nursing homes and designated centres.
It is the written safety statement that Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires from every employer. It records your hazards, your risk assessments and the measures that keep people safe. In short: it is the document that proves how your home manages safety.
Review it at least once a year. Review it sooner after an incident, when the workplace changes, or when new legislation or guidance appears.