Work fatalities highest in Cork

Cork had the highest number of workplace fatalities last year, with 12 deaths.

Dublin and Waterford were second highest, with four in each county.

The Health and Safety Authority said 46 people lost their lives in workplace accidents last year, compared to 48 in 2012. Among those killed last year were four children on farms.

Incidents involving vehicles at work accounted for 20 deaths.

Reductions in fatalities were recorded in the agriculture sector, from 21 in 2012 to 16 last year.

In the fishing sector, there was a reduction in fatalities from seven in 2012 to four in 2013.

There was also a reduction in fatalities in the water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities sector, from four in 2012 to one last year.

With the highest number of fatalities in the agriculture sector, the HSA is calling for 2014 to be designated ‘year of farm safety’.

HSA chief executive Martin O’Halloran said the authority recognised that some jobs could be more hazardous than others.

“The number of fatalities in agriculture each year bears that out,” he said. “However, we will never accept that these deaths are inevitable and cannot be prevented.

“I am particularly concerned that four children lost their lives due to work-related accidents on Irish farms last year.”

Mr O’Halloran said HSA was working to foster “a culture of safety” in agriculture, but high accident rates showed that the pace of change was too slow.

“I am calling on farmers to make 2014 the safest year on farms ever recorded,” he said.

The construction sector recorded the second highest number of fatalities, with 11 killed, making it the third year in a row that fatalities increased in the sector.

Mr O’Halloran said the construction sector had a poor safety record but an effort had been made by all those involved to improve standards.

Mr O’Halloran said there had been a decrease in the overall trend in workplace fatalities for the last 10 years.