Union: True extent of work-related deaths hidden

The number of work-related deaths could be 10 times higher than what is reported, union leaders warned today.

With Health and Safety Authority figures showing 50 fatalities at work during 2004, SIPTU’s health and safety officer, Sylvester Cronin, insisted official statistics did not reflect the true number of deaths.

The HAS revealed 23 people died at work in the first four months of 2005 while 30% of all workplace deaths occurred in the agriculture sector, but only 6.5% of the workforce are employed in farming.

But Mr Cronin warned people killed while driving as part of their job were not included in the statistics and that it was estimated around 4% of cancer deaths were work-related and not included in the figures.

“Because the Health & Safety Authority only collects data on the number of illnesses or injuries occurring in the workplace, their figures do not reflect the true level of workplace fatalities,” he said.

Mr Cronin insisted there was evidence that up to one-third of all road accidents were work-related.

He also claimed that, with an average of 7,500 people dying each year from cancer-related illnesses, 300 deaths could be work-related.

The SIPTU official called for an investigation into the number of cardio-vascular or respiratory illnesses contracted at work which may have led to fatalities outside the workplace.

Mr Cronin noted a study by the National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee in New Zealand which estimated more than 80% of work-related deaths were not documented or reported and were not investigated.

“New Zealand has a working population very similar to Ireland’s. So we can assume a similar outcome to an examination of the situation here,” he said.