Construction worker dies as staircase collapses

A FATAL accident yesterday evening on a construction site, the third this week, has rocked the industry.

A Dublin man died and two colleagues were trapped for 40 minutes after a concrete staircase collapsed at an office block development in Ringsend.

Earlier this week, father-of-five

Brian Colton, 34, from Glaslough, Co Monaghan, and Donal Brady, 62, from New Inn Road, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, died in separate accidents after trench collapses.

The man who died yesterday, from the Clondalkin area, was not named. His two workmates were being treated in hospital last night for serious injuries.

A builders' union yesterday warned firms not to be complacent regarding safety on construction sites.

Fatalities and accidents in the industry escalated in 2002, it emerged, despite a 40m investment in safety training over the past two years.

Statutory and industry bodies yesterday expressed disappointment at the increase in on-site accidents, which led to 21 deaths and 2,000 notifiable accidents this year.

Over 40 sites where regulations were breached were closed down by court order this year or the threat of High Court action.

The Health and Safety Authority also revealed there was a high level of non-compliance with regulations in relation to site accidents.

The HSA's senior construction inspector Peter Heffernan said only 50% of notifiable accidents where people are absent from work for three days or more are reported. "Too many firms neglect their statutory duties," he said.

Meanwhile, the Building and Allied Trades Union (BATU) yesterday demanded a penalty points scheme for firms which breach safety regulations.

BATU co-ordinator Denis Farrell warned: "Members are getting increasingly angry that the root causes of unnecessary accidents and fatalities on building sites are not being faced up by the industry or by Government."

He demanded increased penalties for companies which flout the laws: "The current penalties, even where a fatality has occurred, are not serious and do not reflect in any way the gross failure in management and duty of care that such accidents represent."

Meanwhile, the Construction Industry Federation's Peter Brady was also critical of firms not complying with regulations.

The increase in accidents, he said, was both worrying and surprising as 180,000 of the industry's 190,000 workers had completed a Safe Pass training programme.

"Notifying the HSA or CIF (Construction Industry Federation) of an accident does not imply any liability and it's in the interest of companies to comply with their legal responsibilities," he said.

Mr Brady, the CIF's director of safety and manpower services, said bad weather conditions increase the risk of accident.

Fading light and soft underground conditions add to the difficulties on sites, he said.

Mr Brady called on companies to increase the level of daily safety inspections on sites.