Sharp rise in deaths at work, says HSA report

The number of people fatally injured in workplace accidents has risen sharply since 2013. New statistics show 56 were killed at their place of work in 2014 compared to 47 the year before.

The overall worker fatality rate has also risen. It increased to 2.5 per 100,000 in 2014, from 2.1 per 100,000 in 2013.

Twenty-six of the fatalities in 2014 involved self-employed people, according to a report published yesterday by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).

Agriculture continues to be the most dangerous occupation, with 30 people dying on farms in 2014, according to the HSA’s 2014 Annual Report and Summary of Injury, Illness and Fatality Statistics.

Ged Nash, the minister of state for business and employment, said the increase in accident rates in 2014 was a cause for concern.

“The increased fatality rate last year is largely due to the unfortunate rise in the number of people killed on farms which stood at 30.

“A huge effort has been made to try to reverse the situation in relation to farming and awareness of the risks has never been higher. It is time now to convert that awareness into action, the carnage and tragedy that we see on our farms every year must stop.”

Mr Nash said: “It is our goal to increase employment opportunities, but it concerns me that as the number of people at work increases, the rate of non-fatal accidents has also risen. We must ensure that economic recovery is not at the expense of safety and health standards. New workers and people returning to the labour market must be protected.”

The report also shows there were 7,431 non-fatal injuries reported in 2014, compared to 6,598 in 2013. The reported non-fatal injury rate increased to 3.7 per 1,000 workers in 2014 from 3.4 per 1,000 workers in 2013.

The main cause of non-fatal injuries was manual handling (33%).

Martin O’Halloran, CEO of the Health and Safety Authority, confirmed there would be a focus on those newly joining the workforce over the next few years: “We did notice an increase in construction activity last year and we also saw a slight increase in reported injuries.”

While the overall rate of compliance in the sector remains high, the HSA’s concern was for the future, Mr O’Halloran said: “Studies show that inexperienced workers, in any sector, are four times more likely to be injured than their more experienced colleagues. There are a number of strategies that can be employed to prevent this such as proper supervision, training and risk-management.

“Employers must be vigilant when it comes to ensuring that newly-hired workers are protected from injury.”

The annual report also gives details of key achievements, programmes and enforcement statistics for 2014. Figures from the report show that there were 10,719 inspections and investigations carried out across all sectors last year. Written advice was given in 38% of cases and enforcement action was required in 9%.

There were 32 prosecutions concluded for serious safety and health breaches, with fines totalling €293,900 imposed.

HSA chairman Michael Horgan said: “We have worked on improving our service delivery and maximising impact by using technology to provide online resources such as BeSMART.ie and Hsalearning.ie.

“These platforms are free, easy-to-use, and available at all times.”