Considerations prior to making a protected disclosure
Prior to making a disclosure, workers should give consideration to the following:
- Perceived relevant wrongdoings (see What are relevant wrongdoings?) – a relevant wrongdoing must be identified by the reporting person in relation to which they wish to raise concerns.
- Identity - whether or not you wish your identity to remain confidential. It is the default position of the HSE that the identity of reporting persons will not be disclosed outside of the National Office for Protected Disclosures (NOPD) unless absolutely necessary for the examination of the wrongdoing. The release of identifying information will only be carried out in compliance with the Act.
- Facts – the information should disclose facts about someone or something, rather than a general allegation that is not founded on any facts.
- Workers should not investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
How to make a protected disclosure
Disclosure should be made to the NOPD who are the Designated Person(s) in the HSE to receive disclosure reports under the HSE Procedures for Handling of Protected Disclosures.
Reports can be made as follows:
Reporting persons are encouraged to use the Form to make a Protected Disclosure under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.pdf (size 195.9 KB) when making a protected disclosure.
If a disclosure report is presented by a worker directly to a HSE service area/HSE centre function, the disclosure should be clearly marked as a protected disclosure. The relevant area will transmit the disclosure report to the NOPD for initial assessment.
When a disclosure is made verbally, it will be documented by the NOPD by way of minutes. Where practicable, the reporting person will be asked to check and confirm in writing the accuracy of the information provided.
Reports should contain at least the information set out in Appendix A of the HSE Procedures for the Handling of Protected Disclosures. Reporting persons should provide sufficient prima facie evidence [1] as part of their report to enable the NOPD to carry out the initial assessment.
The Act does not make any provision in relation to the withdrawal of a disclosure. If the information provided tends to show a relevant wrongdoing, then the HSE may decide to continue to examine/investigate this in so far as is possible should a reporting person choose to withdraw from the process.
For details on the HSE Internal Process for Receipt of a Report, please refer to Section 3 of the HSE Procedures for the Handling of Protected Disclosures.
| [1] Prima facie evidence: derived from Latin meaning "at first sight" or "on the face of it," means that there is sufficient evidence to support a claim, but it is not conclusive. |
Anonymous Disclosures
Reports can be made anonymously. Persons who choose to report anonymously and whose report meets the requirements of the Act remain entitled to all the protections of the Act. The NOPD would encourage individuals (reporting persons) to provide contact details so that the HSE can address the disclosures with them to the fullest extent possible
Anonymous reports will be followed up to the greatest extent possible. However, it may not be possible to fully assess and follow up on an anonymous report, in the absence of the knowledge of the identity of the reporting person.
In addition, implementing certain elements of the HSE Procedures for the Handling of Protected Disclosures – such as seeking further information, providing feedback/outcomes, maintaining communication and protecting the reporting person’s identity or protecting them from penalisation – may not be possible.
Group Disclosures
If a disclosure is received from a group of “workers”, the NOPD will inform the contact person(s) in writing and state that there is no provision in the legislation for making a “group” protected disclosure, or for one reporting person to act as a contact person or representative for others.
The NOPD will inform the contact person(s) that the HSE has a legal obligation to protect the identity of the individuals making the disclosure and an obligation to protect them from penalisation (see Section 3.4 – Protection from Penalisation in the HSE Procedures for the Handling of Protected Disclosures). In order to meet these obligations, the HSE must correspond directly with each of the persons making the disclosure.
The NOPD requests that each of the individuals (reporting persons) contact the HSE protected disclosures email address to confirm that they have made a disclosure and to provide their contact details, so that the HSE can address the disclosures with them to the fullest extent possible (such as seeking further information for the purpose of initial assessment, providing feedback and protecting the identity of each individual and protecting them from penalisation).
The NOPD will assign each worker with their own unique NOPD reference number; thereby providing each reporting person with the same procedural treatment individually. On receipt of these details, the disclosure report, if assessed as suitable for follow-up under the Act, will be treated as one disclosure report for the purpose of referral to a Senior Accountable Officer, submitted by several workers. This will result in a single examination/investigation.
