Health and Safety Authority warns of risks of excavation work

The Health and Safety Authority has begun an inspection and awareness campaign targeting the construction sector. Five workers have died during excavations or been buried in excavated earth over the past five years.

HSA agents will inspect construction sites nationwide over the next fortnight, focusing on excavation safety and safety in timber-frame house erection: “In the past five years, there have been five fatal accidents, where workers were killed as a result of an excavation collapse or from engulfment in earth or other materials.”

The authority wants to raise awareness of the risks of excavation on-site.