Minister for Labour Affairs welcomes significant improvements in workplace health and safety lowest number of reported workplace fatalities in 20 years

Mr Dara Calleary T.D., Minister for Labour Affairs today welcomed figures from the Health and Safety Authority which show that 2009 had the lowest number of reported workplace fatalities (43) in twenty years.

The Minister said

"I welcome this positive trend, albeit with some reservations because there are 43 families who have spent the holiday period mourning the loss of a family member in a workplace accident. While there is no room for complacency, the reduction in workplace fatalities is encouraging and great credit is due to the work of the Health and Safety Authority and to employers and employee representatives who continue to work collaboratively for greater workplace safety".

The year 2009 has seen not only has the lowest number of workplace fatalities^[1] in absolute terms, but it is also very encouraging to see a downward trend when one considers that the workforce has significantly increased in the past 20 years.

The high-risk sectors, Agriculture and Construction which had been generating the highest numbers of fatalities, have shown the largest falls in recent years. In Construction, the number of fatalities was 10 in 2009, compared with - for example - 13 fatalities in 2006, 18 in 2007 and 15 in 2008. Agriculture fatalities were 21 in 2008 and 10 in 2009.

Undoubtedly, decreased activity in the construction sector has played a part in the decrease in fatalities but so too has the sharp focus which both the HSA and the Construction Safety Partnership have maintained in not losing the safety gains made in that sector over the past 10 years or so.

Agriculture has been a source of growing concern in recent years, rivaling construction in terms of risk. 2009 has seen a significant fall in fatalities in agriculture which is a particularly welcome development. The Minister welcomed the work of the Farm Safety Partnership and the HSA's targeting of farmers for special awareness raising initiatives.

Commenting on the overall positive safety trends in occupational health and safety Minister Calleary said that the impact of the Government’s commitment to and investment in the occupational health and safety message over the years can be clearly seen from a recent report published by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. This report placed Ireland at the top of the EU table on perceptions of worker health and safety improvements over the past five years. Some 83% of Irish respondents to the Europe-wide survey indicated that worker health and safety standards were either better or much better compared with five years ago. 84% of respondents considered themselves well-informed on health and safety risks.

Looking ahead to 2010, Minister Calleary said:

"The priority for the new year will be to ensure that health and safety in the workplace will not be compromised during the economic downturn. The work of the HSA will be focused clearly on this objective primarily because of the risks in terms of human cost but also having regard to the effect that poor health and safety has on insurance and other costs for employers".

ENDS/LA353