Work safety plan aims to prevent building site deaths

A NEW work safety plan was launched yesterday to help prevent injuries and deaths on building sites.

The Safe System of Work Plan was produced by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and launched by Labour Affairs Minister Tony Killeen.

The new initiative uses colour pictograms to explain hazards and ensure safety controls are in place prior to work starting.

The HSA said the plan will break language and literacy barriers for the 225,000 workers in the sector, of which 4% are non-nationals.

Mr Killeen said: “I believe (the plan) will make a very positive impact in reducing injuries and deaths in this hugely important sector of our economy.

“The involvement of workers in the creation of this plan is particularly important and gives workers an ownership and responsibility to ensure that safety is at the heart of all their jobs on a construction site.”

The HSA said clear and concise communication was needed to inform non-English speaking people, of whom 4,157 were issued work permits since 2002.

HSA chief Tom Beegan said: “We have taken into account the changing nature of the construction workplace to tackle issues such as literacy and language which impact directly on communication of safety initiatives.

“These new challenges have helped us to be more creative in finding solutions which we believe will help in saving lives on site.”