Revenue staff working at ports and airports were deliberately hit by cars, bitten by dogs, while one officer suffered mild poisoning after being exposed to carbon monoxide fumes from nail polish.
A log of incidents detailed the frequent hazards faced by customs officers and employees of the Revenue Commissioners in going about their daily business.
Revenue said they had registered 102 cases of accidents involving staff, including near misses, vehicle mishaps, dangerous incidents, and property damage during 2023.
At Dublin Airport, a customs official was attacked by a dog named “Lui” and suffered a bite injury to their hand last September.
In Dundalk last July, another officer suffered a “blow to their body” from a car causing head injuries, while a colleague suffered “emotional trauma” after seeing the assault involving a vehicle.
Another incident at Dublin Airport saw a customs official stricken with nausea and a headache from “toxic gas or chemical” fumes coming from a container of nail polish.
A separate case involving possible exposure to hydrogen sulphide – a highly toxic and flammable substance – was reported at a customs station in Waterford.
The Revenue incident log said they believed the gas leak, which made two people ill, may have been caused by a faulty battery in a customs vehicle.
In another case, a civil servant was burned after hot water sprayed from a faulty coffee machine in their office.
A leaking ceiling at Dublin Airport was also reported as tiles fell with one customs officer hit on the head and soaked by water, and another narrowly avoiding getting struck.
Listed in the log as well was an incident in the Revenue Museum where a civil servant got locked in a bathroom after a power cut in the Dublin Castle complex where the museum is found.
There were 27 incidents involving vehicles, including a Revenue jeep that hit a pole and a collision with a member of the public’s car at a roundabout because of “sun glare”.
At Rosslare Port, the emergency brake of a scanner vehicle failed while in Dublin Port, the driver of a truck was reported to be travelling on the wrong side of the road.
Five cases of property damage were listed including two incidents where trucks reversed into fences or key stands, while one incident was logged simply as “officer’s foot went through a sofa”.
Eleven dangerous incidents are contained in the database with a customs officer bitten by a search dog in their home when the animal was “startled”.
In Rosslare Port, a worker was “left down a drain, while traffic was overhead”, while in Dublin Airport, a ceiling collapsed in a staff accommodation area after heavy rainfall.
Also listed as serious incidents were a case of dangerous driving where a car sped perilously close to a customs officer in Dundalk and aggressive behaviour from a member of the public who banged angrily on the door of a Revenue office in Co Louth.
A spokesman for the Revenue Commissioners said they were committed to ensuring the safety, health, and welfare of all its employees and those they were in contact with.
“Our safety management system incorporates the identification of hazards, an assessment of the associated risks, mitigation measures for eliminating or reducing the risks, as well as a method to monitor and review procedures,” he said.
“Revenue strives to ensure the provision and maintenance of a safe and healthy working environment in all of its workplaces, placing particular emphasis on the provision of safe means of access and egress, and the proper maintenance of plant and machinery,” he added.
Reporting by Ken Foxe
