Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 114: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures he intends to take in response to the 27% increase in workplace fatalities in 2005, the disproportionate representation of non-nationals therein; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31591/05]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 120: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures he intends to take to reduce the high and rising incidence of workplace fatalities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31623/05]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 162: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the action he intends to take on foot of the rise in workplace fatalities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31628/05]

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of deaths and injuries reported arising from industrial accidents in each year from 2000 to 2004 and to date in 2005; the further steps he intends to take to reduce the level of such accidents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31610/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 114, 120, 162 and 169 together.

I would first like to extend my sympathy to the families of those involved and affected by the workplace fatalities so far this year. The Government's commitment to ensuring high standards of safety, health and welfare in Irish workplaces is illustrated in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, which came into force on 1 September last. The Act updates, repeals and replaces the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989 and provides a modern legal framework to guarantee best international practice in regard to safety, health and welfare in Irish workplaces.

The Act aims at striking an appropriate balance between imposing duties, encouraging better consultation at workplace level on occupational safety and health matters, providing for an improved focus on better prevention systems and practices and the possible application of increased fines and penalties, where warranted.

Overall trends in absences from work due to workplace accidents are best described by reference to the data from the occupational injury benefit claims published by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Although the statistics show an increase in the number of claims in recent years, this has to be read in the context of the expansion of activities and the number in employment over the period. The number of occupational injury benefit claims per 100,000 employees has shown a steady decline in Ireland. In fact, these rates have declined from one in 885 in 2000 to one in 638 in 2004, as the following tables show.

The number of fatalities at work has also declined from a total of 70 in 2000 to 49 last year. Nonetheless, the rate of deaths and injuries in Irish workplaces is unacceptable.

I am very concerned at the total of 61 workplace deaths that have occurred so far this year. The Health and Safety Authority has also expressed concern over the number of workplace deaths, particularly of non-nationals. Provisional figures indicate that ten non-nationals have died this year in work-related accidents. The Health and Safety Authority has called on all employers to ensure that they are adequately communicating the risks and providing appropriate safety training for all employees, including those who are non-English speaking.

Of the ten fatalities involving non-nationals at the workplace this year, four have occurred in construction, three in manufacturing, one in agriculture and two in the wholesale and retail trade. The Health and Safety Authority has been working on a programme of information resources aimed at non-English speakers and specific provisions relating to such workers are now included in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

That authority has also recognised the new challenges that the growth of non-English speaking people within the workforce brings. Earlier this year the authority launched a new initiative, entitled the safe system of work plan, which is aimed at reducing injuries and deaths on construction sites. This initiative relies heavily on pictograms to explain and clarify hazards and controls, thereby creating a wordless document where safety can be communicated to all workers regardless of literacy or language skills. The plan aims to focus on those who are most at risk and empowering them to ensure that all necessary safety controls are in place prior to the commencement of work.

In addition, the authority has work under way to produce the safe system of work plan in a number of different languages. The plan has been translated into Turkish and Polish and shortly a seven-language training DVD will be available. I would also like to say that the authority's safe system of work plan, SSWP, for construction was recently awarded the innovation prize for good prevention practices in the construction industry by the International Social Security Association, ISSA, during the recent World Congress on Safety.

In 2004, the authority, in conjunction with Bord Glas, recognised the multicultural nature of the horticultural workforce, with the launch of the essential health and safety guide for horticulture, which aims to promote health and safety awareness and accident prevention in this sector. As a labour intensive industry, horticulture is an established employer of migrant workers and 30% of these originate from the recent accession states to the EU. The guide is available in four different foreign languages, that is, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Russian.

There are huge responsibilities on all parties in the workplace and the issue of safety can only be corrected by dedicated efforts by all those involved in day to day operations.

Health and Safety Authority evidence is that up to one half of the small employers in this country do little or certainly not enough to ensure a safe workplace and that the most common causes of accidents are slips, trips and falls at work and bad lifting habits resulting in injury.

I appeal to all parties to do more work to promote awareness of the need for a safe work environment which has benefits for workers, employers and society generally and which will engender a safety culture.