The new partnership approach to building site safety announced yesterday is a positive and overdue development - if it genuinely heralds new safety standards. For years, as the number of fatalities on building sites continued to increase, management and unions routinely blamed each other for the situation. The new Construction Safety Partnership appears to signal a more united front.
The partnership, comprising the Construction Industry Federation, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Health and Safety Authority will prepare a safety plan for the industry within three months. Mr Tom Kitt, the Minister for State with responsibility for labour, trade and consumer affairs, has welcomed the new partnership as a "mature acknowledgment by both sides of their moral and legal obligations". Troubling questions remain, however - not least whether the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has the capacity to do its job. There are, too, the wider questions of whether the regulations on safety are properly enforced and whether the range of sanctions available to the courts is sufficient. There can be no denying the seriousness of the problem.
Last year, there were 29 fatalities on building sites in the State, more than twice the number in 1996. Thirteen building workers have died already this year. Accidents on construction sites can happen in even the best regulated environment; and the increase in fatalities is, of course, related to the current housing boom. But the very high mortality rate points to a failure by some construction companies and/or sub-contractors in the industry to apply the statutory safety regulations. It also points to a failure by the relevant government agencies to enforce them.
The HSA is charged with the responsibility of monitoring and enforcing safety standards in the workplace. Given the temptation in the building industry to cut corners and save money, and the fact that the operation of some companies might best be described as footloose in nature, the role of the authority is clearly critical. The problem is that the agency - and Mr Kitt acknowledged as much last year - remains over-stretched and under-resourced. Certainly, it has nothing like the resources and personnel required to inspect several thousand building sites in the State. The Government might usefully consider an expansion of the HSA to allow it keep pace with the dynamic expansion in the construction industry. It might usefully review the range of sanctions available for those who breach safety laws. In this area, the best deterrents - a term in prison or substantial on-the-spot fines - do not seem to be options, even for the most serious offenders. In 1996, the average fine for infractions of the safety laws was less than £300.
It is to be hoped that the safety plan now in preparation by the new Construction Safety Partnership will tease out these and other issues. It may be that the polite, consensual approach adopted by all sides yesterday will soon fracture; that might be no bad thing. Tough decisions by Government are required to uphold and maintain safety standards on construction sites - if lives are to be saved.