Accidents at work - Focus on health and safety vital

Worker safety is vital to life and limb, but the latest figures released yesterday by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) provides cold comfort.

The number of days lost due to work-related injury and illness had been steadily increasing in recent years.

The most alarming aspect of the report is the number of work-related deaths in 2007. They jumped to 67, which was an alarming 31% increase on the 51 people killed in 2006. This is particularly disappointing coming on the back of a 31% decrease previous year.