€2.1m fines for deaths at work last year

Companies flouting health and safety standards have been hit with one of the highest ever total annual fines issued in this country, after 47 deaths occurred in Irish workplaces last year.

The Health and Safety Authority penalised companies €2.1m for serious breaches last year, one of the biggest penalties since it was set up in 1989.

Details outlined in the State body’s latest annual report, published last night, show 28 firms were fined the eye-catching sum in 2013, which far exceeds the €425,000 and €819,700 worth of penalties in 2012 and 2011, and is the highest rate in a decade.