Inspection blitz launched after 24th workplace fatality

A CONSTRUCTION worker who fell from a scaffold yesterday became the 24th workplace fatality this year, on the same day safety inspectors announced a blitz on building sites.

Smaller house building projects will be the focus of the crackdown by the Health and Safety Authority, which has vowed to carry out more than 1,000 inspections in seven days.

While the construction industry claims a huge amount of progress has been made in worker safety, the HSA yesterday described as “appalling” the number of building site deaths.

Ten people have died on building sites since the start of the year, the latest a 59-year-old man at a site at Ballyclough near Mallow on Monday evening.

Gardaí and safety inspectors were on site yesterday as investigations were launched. The man fell from a height of less than six feet but suffered serious head injuries and died at the scene.

Gardaí have launched a full investigation, though early indications suggest his death was not suspicious.

The HSA said a crackdown on building sites involving all available inspectors will begin on June 13. The authority has defended its decision to give prior notice of the crackdown.

Authority chief executive Tom Beegan said: “This focused safety campaign is a determined effort by the authority to ensure that companies maintain the highest standards and that the appalling level of construction-related deaths is reduced.

Health chiefs are worried about the high rate of deaths this year, a 40% increase on 2004 already.

An earlier crackdown in Cork found nearly 10% of companies visited did not comply with regulations.