Speech by Mr. Tom Kitt T.D., Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs At the Launch of European Safety Week 2001 On Monday 22^nd October, 2001.

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am very pleased to be here this morning to launch European Safety Week which is always a focal point in the workplace health and safety calendar.

Each year, a theme is chosen to form the basis of a variety of activities in workplaces nationwide from information days to safety quizzes to awards schemes, all of which help meet the challenge of raising awareness of key safety issues and promoting practical actions to improve safety.

This year, the theme is a very broad-based one of "Accident Prevention" and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has chosen to highlight this under the banner "Success is No Accident". The Week aims to demonstrate that good safety is good business; that preventing work-related accidents saves time and money.

Across Europe, work-related accidents remain at stubbornly high levels and unfortunately, Ireland is no exception. Last year, 69 people were killed in Irish workplaces. Already this year the comparable figure is 54. Each one of these deaths is an inestimable loss for family and friends.

In addition, an estimated 28,000 people suffered injuries as a result of workplace accidents last year, and these too have costs, for the injured person and their family. Reducing the risk of accidents at work is one of the principal factors in improving the quality of working life.

Accidents happen in all sectors of the economy and are a particularly acute problem in enterprises with less then 50 workers. Slips, trips and falls cause most accidents, followed by manual handling, being struck by moving or falling objects and transport accidents. Falling from height and accidents involving vehicles cause most fatalities.

But reducing the number of accidents is not just a moral imperative. There is a strong business case for doing so as well since the most successful companies usually have the best accident prevention records.

Take just one stark statistic. In Ireland last year, a total of 1.1 million working days were lost as a result of work-related injury and ill-health. There can be no doubt that this had a direct negative financial impact on the success and competitiveness of Irish businesses. Did the loss of those 1.1 million days mean that significant orders were lost within individual companies? Did it mean that temporary staff had to be recruited and trained? Did it mean that compensation claims were filed or that legal costs were incurred with a subsequent increase in the employer's liability premia?

For many small companies, if the answer to even one of these questions is yes, as it inevitably must be, then the cost of an accident may be too high. But most of these accidents can be prevented through good management practice. I would urge all employers and managers to use the opportunity that European Safety Week presents, to take stock of your safety management systems and to make improvements where you have identified flaws. Ask yourself some pertinent questions - are your staff adequately trained to ensure their safety? Is there an effective safety consultation procedure in place? Has your safety statement been updated recently to take account of changing circumstances? This is an opportune time to work on your safety systems and the Health and Safety Authority has a range of leaflets and a dedicated information line to assist and advise you.

But while employers have the primary role to play in ensuring a safe working environment, others, too, have responsibilities. Every worker has a role to play in preventing accidents and by working with your supervisor, safety representative, employer and colleagues you can make your workplace a safe and healthy one. The pivotal role of workers in ensuring safe standards at work should not be underestimated and this role must be fully acknowledged and encouraged through proper consultation and communication between employers and employees.

Parents, too, have an invaluable role to play and we should all use this week as an opportunity to talk to our children about safety and to encourage them to think more about their personal safety. Our children are the workers of the future and the instilling of positive attitudes to safety in our children will benefit them personally well into the future.

In relation specifically to the safety of children, the harsh reality is that 12 children have died in workplace accidents so far this year, compared with 4 for the whole of last year, and 7 of those were in the farming sector, compared with 2 for last year. It is in the context of these sombre statistics that I would appeal to all adults and guardians to take particular care in circumstances where children have access to, or would be able to gain access to, a high-risk place of work, and to always put in place adequate preventative measures. In particular this horrifying increase in child fatalities is a challenge facing all areas of working activity - farms, construction sites, industrial and office premises. I welcome the Authority's renewed effort to address this very serious issue and I ask that all sectors of society - parents, teachers, employers and workers take serious account of it in the future.

The Health and Safety Authority, for its part, is available to assist you to participate in the Week and many valuable initiatives are planned to ensure that there is adequate information available to all workplaces. A series of seminars on safety consultation and safety statements began last week and will continue for a number of weeks at venues throughout the country. Information talks on a variety of topics are planned at a range of workplaces while the Good Neighbour Scheme will, as in previous years, encourage activities on the ground which are designed with the theme of accident prevention in mind.

Before I finish, I would like to take this opportunity to specifically ask the farming community to get involved in European Safety Week. I am aware that this has been a difficult year for all farmers and that there are times when accident prevention may seem a less immediate priority than other imperatives.

In the coming weeks, I will be launching Guidelines on Safety Statements in the farming sector. These Guidelines will provide the necessary technical know-how to enable all farmers to carry out detailed risk assessments and put them in writing. I am appealing to all farmers to make a special effort to make their farms a safe farm, not only this Week, but all year round.

Thank you for your attention and your participation in European Safety Week.