Most deaths at work in fishing and agriculture

The agriculture and fishing sector has overtaken the construction industry in having the highest number of annual workplace deaths, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has announced.

The figures released yesterday in the authority's annual report for 2004 show agriculture and fishing accounted for 16 deaths last year - one more than the building industry.

However, overall the HSA noted that fatalities were well down from 70 in 2003 to 50 last year, a drop of 30 per cent.

The authority attributed the result to greater awareness of the need for safety at work.

The authority also revealed that:

Male workers are twice as likely as females to suffer injuries;

Workers in the mid-east region covering Kildare, Meath and Wicklow are the most likely to receive a serious injury at work;

Workers in the west - Galway, Mayo and Roscommon - are the most likely to suffer illness;

More than two-thirds of all injuries happen to those in the 20 to 44 age group;

There were 45,000 calls to the authority's information and advice line in 2004.

In terms of enforcement, the HSA carried out 11,382 inspections of business premises in 2004, and prosecutions resulted in 9 per cent of the companies inspected. Some 70 per cent of all inspections were carried out in companies of less than 15 employees.

The figures indicate that while fatalities are falling, almost one in 10 companies still seriously breaches the health and safety legislation.

The authority acknowledged that health and safety policies in companies might be seen as an additional cost, and that many employers focus on this cost rather than the costs which arise when a worker has an accident.

The HSA revealed that just 17 per cent of employers who responded to a recent survey said they had bothered to analyse the cost of accidents at work.

The HSA said there was a compelling case "which requires a change in priorities in order to instill a new culture of health and safety in the workplace".

HSA chairman Jim Lyons said while the 30 per cent reduction in work-related deaths in 2004 was to be welcomed, there were still challenges in developing preventative strategies in partnership with business. "Accidents don't need to happen, so let's make sure they don't."

The HSA also yesterday launched a 10-year review of health and safety trends in Ireland. It said the review had shown up regional disparities in the level of safety enforcement, and striking differences in safety plans between large and small companies.

The authority found that smaller companies, particularly those in the northwest, were most often found in breach of legislation.