Written answers

Thursday, 9 October 2008

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Workplace Accidents

5:00 pm

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 76: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the efforts her Department is making to reduce deaths and injuries from workplace accidents in different industries, such as construction, agriculture and so on; the number of such accidents by individual sector which occurred in 2007 and to date in 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34356/08]

Photo of Billy KelleherBilly Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would refer the Deputy to my combined written answer in the Dáil Debates for 24 September 2008 to Questions Nos. 136, 141 and 159.

Statistics

In 2007 a total of 67 workplace fatalities was reported to the Health and Safety Authority compared to 48 to date (7 October) in 2008 and compared to a total of 51 fatalities in the whole of 2006.

There were over 7,000 non-fatal work injuries overall reported to the Authority in 2007 compared to over 5,000 non-fatal injuries to date in 2008.

The NACE industrial and economic sector classification system changed in January 2008. Therefore, a direct comparison on the sector codes for each year is not possible as the sectors represented by some codes have changed significantly. However, the figures for five key sectors have been extracted from the data and are on the following table.

Health and Safety Authority

Operational responsibility for the enforcement of occupational health and safety policy and the promotion of a general awareness of occupational health and safety issues rests with the Health and Safety Authority.

Details of the Authority's planned activities, in pursuit of its operational remit, are contained in its annual Programme of Work 2008 which can be accessed at the Authority's website (http://publications.hsa.ie/index.asp?locID=17&docID=268). I expect to receive the Authority's proposed Programme of Work for 2009 before the end of this month.

Construction and Agriculture

It is obvious, from the statistics, that both construction and agriculture are the leading high risk sectors. It is my view that the Authority should prioritise its efforts in accordance with the sectoral risk profiles and this is, in fact, how the Authority operates in practice.

For my part, I will continue to use all opportunities to drive home the health and safety message. For example, on the construction side, I formally launched the Construction Safety Partnership Plan 2008-2010 on 17 June 2008. The overall aim of the partnership is to achieve the highest possible standard of safety, health and welfare in Irish construction. The Construction Safety Partnership (CSP) includes representatives of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and other relevant Agencies and Government Departments.

On the agriculture side, I attended and addressed the first All Island Farm Safety Conference in Monaghan in June of this year. This conference was co-hosted by the Health and Safety Authority along with the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI). The conference attracted over 200 from North and South to hear both national and international experts present on safety strategies and initiatives on farm safety.

I also, participated in the Authority's awareness initiative at the recent National Ploughing Championships in Kilkenny. I have encouraged the Authority to continue and develop its partnership with Teagasc and to follow through on the development and distribution of the Farm Safety Code of Practice which was distributed to 160,000 farm households in December 2006. This joint initiative focuses on increasing the use of this Code of Practice and take up of half day training courses on the Code of Practice available at Teagasc Advisory Centres.

I am satisfied that the Health and Safety Authority is proactive in encouraging safety in all workplaces and have prioritised its initiatives in the agriculture and construction sectors. However, it is always important to remember that the Authority, on its own, cannot deliver health and safety in every workplace. Ultimately, health and safety in the workplace can only be delivered by those who control and work in each workplace.

2007*2008
FatalNon-fatalFatalNon-fatal
Construction.1813920
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing231766
Mines and Quarries2060
Manufacturing361,156
Transport and Storage83656
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply3050
Water supply; sewerage, waste mgt & remediation0281
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles12548
Information and communication1066
Professional, scientific and technical activities0130
Administrative and support service activities2070
Public administration and defence41571
Arts, entertainment and recreation0121
Other service activities22162
Other sectors001,010
Totals67485,467
*Due to the change to the NACE industrial and economic sector classification it is not possible to give definitive numbers of non-fatal accidents for the each sector (as defined in NACE) reported to the Authority in 2007.
Reported accidents 2007
Economic SectorsReports
Agriculture, hunting, forestry100
Fishing10
Mining and quarrying71
Manufacturing1,609
Electricity, gas, water supply27
Construction1,660
Wholesale and retail trade778
Hotels and restaurants125
Transport, storage, communication987
Financial intermediation156
Real estate, renting, business activities238
Public administration, defence, social security903
Education73
Health and social work877
Other213
Total7,827

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