Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989, the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health, known as the Health and Safety Authority, is the State body charged with overall responsibility for administration, enforcement and promotion of workplace safety and health. Matters arising from this responsibility are, therefore, a day-to-day function of the authority.

Overall trends in workplace accidents are best described by reference to the data from the occupational injury benefit claims published by Department of Social and Family Affairs, as the criteria for this benefit have remained the same over the years. Although it shows an increase in numbers of claims in recent years, this has to be read in the context of the economic expansion that has taken place in Ireland in the last decade. The accident rates per 100,000 employees show a steady decline in workplace accidents in Ireland as shown in the table below.

Nonetheless, the rate of deaths and injuries in Irish workplaces is unacceptable. During 2003, 67 people died and an estimated 20,900 people were absent from work for more than there days due to workplace injuries. In 2004, 50 people died in workplace accidents and to date this year there have been 22 fatalities.

However, overall steady progress has been made as the workplace fatality rate has fallen significantly since 1998 when 70 people died in the workplace.

This reduction in deaths and injuries should be seen against the background of an increase in the workforce of almost a quarter of a million workers since 1998.

Internationally, rapid increases in the workforce usually lead to an increase in the fatal and non-fatal injury rate due to the introduction of inexperienced workers into the workplace. Thankfully, Ireland has been able to avoid such an increase.

The Health and Safety Authority has a dual role of enforcement and prevention. Under its prevention strategy, published in 2004, the authority approaches the issue of days lost to Irish business through a range of measures and supports at individual workplace, sector and national level. In addition, the authority partners other significant organisations and the social partners to bring home the message of prevention on both human and economic grounds. The authority's programme of work for 2005 will further promote this preventive emphasis in its work in addition to continuing to inspect workplaces for compliance with legal requirements.