CIF Health and Safety
The role of the CIF Safety and Health department is to act as the voice of the contracting sector of the construction industry and to drive a positive health, safety and wellbeing culture throughout the industry. It does this by working closely with member committees and industry stakeholders.
The department benefits greatly from a long-established Safety and Health Subcommittee. Members of the committee comprise of CIF member representatives and appointed industry stakeholders, all on a voluntary basis.
Events and resources
Safety, health and wellbeing calendar
Annually, the CIF safety, health and wellbeing calendar provides an itinerary of key diary events to reflect CIF, national and international campaigns for safety, health and wellbeing.
Best practices in health and safety in construction
Sharing of lesson learned / best practice in health and safety provides a platform to share industry experience and ultimately make the construction sector safer through knowledge sharing.
Safe-T-Cert
Safe-T-Cert is a certification scheme designed for certifying the Safety Management Systems of contractors working in the construction industry.
If your company does not have certification of your Safety Management System – why not? Your competitors may have!
Construction Safety Campaign
Construction Safety Campaign is an annual initiative run by the CIF. The goal is to eliminate accidents at work and to drive continual improvement in safety and health performance.
Upcoming events View All
CIF 90th anniversary golf and gala dinner
Construction Safety Campaign
Services
Services for members
The management of health and safety issues is a key concern for the construction industry in Ireland. Therefore, the CIF has a dedicated department to manage the needs of members in this area. Policy in this area is overseen by the CIF Safety and Health Subcommittee.
The department offers the following range of services to CIF members:
- Expert advice, guidance and information on regulatory compliance and best practice.
- Access to chartered health and safety professionals.
- Representation on industry and company issues to Government, statutory agencies, including the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), client bodies and through the Construction Safety Partnership Advisory Committee (CSPAC).
- Public and in-house specialised management and development programmes, briefings and seminars.
- Live, in-person and online events, with an opportunity to network with industry experts.
- Real-time updates on pertinent health, safety and wellbeing issues.
Member representation on health and safety
The CIF represents the views of contractors at the highest level on such bodies as the Health and Safety Authority, SOLAS and the Construction Safety Partnership Advisory Committee (CSPAC). Members can feed their experiences and insights directly into these fora via the federation’s branch and association structure, helping to shape the implementation of a practical, cost effective and successful industry-wide health and safety policy environment for Ireland’s construction industry.
Safety and Health Subcommittee
Chair – Frank Kelly (CIF President and Construction Director, Walls Construction)
Secretariat – Sean Downey (CIF Director of Safety, Education & Training)
Members – Current Members
Downloads
CIF Safety Campaign 2025 – Logo
4th June 2025 png (206.73 KB)
Balancing Stress Partner Pack
9th May 2025 pdf (1.19 MB)
CIF Toolbox Talk – Skin Cancer 2025 May Purcell Scaffolding (001)RR
25th April 2025 pdf (183.43 KB)
Toolbox Talk – Fairness, Inclusion & Respect March 2025
16th April 2025 pdf (125.49 KB)
Toolbox Talk – Mental Health and Wellbeing 2025
1st April 2025 docx (64.95 KB)
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CIF Training View All
The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) is the leading provider of Construction Training and Health and Safety Training courses for the construction industry in Ireland. View the latest courses below.
CIF Scaffold Inspection & Code of Practice Update
Dublin
CIF Scaffold Planning Programme
Dublin
Drug Awareness, with Bernie McDonnell
HGV Management Strategy & Permits (with Niall Bolger, DCC)
IHBA Webinar – Uisce Éireann Connections & Developer Services (Jan’23)
Key contacts
Sean Downey, MRICS MSCSI
Director of Safety, Education & Training
Sean has over 25 years’ experience in technical control, project, contract, and development management roles in Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe. A Chartered and Registered Building Surveyor, he is currently Director of Safety, Education and Training in the Construction Industry Federation. His role primarily involves acting as secretariat for industry policy committees related to health and safety, as well as advancing the education, apprenticeship, training, and development needs of the sector.
Mandy McElkearney
Administrator, Safe-T-Cert
Mandy provides administration for Safe-T-Cert, which is a is a certification scheme designed for certifying the Safety Management Systems of contractors working in the construction industry. The Scheme’s objective is to improve health and safety management by providing objective standards and certifying those contractors whose safety management systems have been assessed.