Recently, a health and safety consultant told me he was requested to run a lawnmower training course. As dumbfounded as I was, I concluded that health and safety obligations in Ireland, while critically important, are overtly onerous in some instances.

Employers have a legal duty to ensure their employees' safety, health and welfare at work as far as is reasonably practicable. In order to prevent workplace injuries and ill health, the employer is required, among other things, to provide systems of work that are planned, organised, performed, maintained and revised as appropriate so as to be, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to the health of employees. Furthermore, employers must manage and conduct work activities in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees.

Back to the lawnmower. Surely it's just a case of pulling the chord, and walking up and down the lawn in straight lines for optimum effect? Not so. The hazards posed by this lawnmower imposed a duty on the employer to carry out a risk assessment for the workplace, hence the training course.

Employers must prepare a safety statement which is based on the risk assessment. The statement should contain the details of people in the workforce who are responsible for safety issues. Employees should be given access to this statement and employers should review it on a regular basis.

Employees need to be made aware about any risks that require the wearing of protective equipment and should be provided with protective equipment (free of charge) together with training in its use, where necessary.

Details of all accidents reported should be recorded and any accident that results in an employee missing three consecutive days at work (not including the day of the accident) means a report must be made to the Health and Safety Authority.

So if you are hiring someone this summer to cut your grass, it might be time to review your risk assessment and book a place on the lawnmower training course.

Oisin Scollard is a barrister and legal counsel with legal HR company www.employmentclinic.ie