Gardaí and HSA investigate construction worker's death

The Garda and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) have launched investigations into the death of a man in Co Wicklow yesterday.

The man, said to be in his early 30s, was killed as he arrived for work on a construction site at Rathdrum Vocational School at about 8.30am.

It is understood he was struck by a dumper truck which was being towed by a van.

The HSA said it had opened an immediate investigation, even though the death may not be classified as an industrial accident but a road-traffic fatality.

A HSA spokesman said an unknown number of deaths each year fell into a grey area between work-related deaths and traffic fatalities.

However he said the trend in the number of work-related deaths was significantly down on the similar period last year.

Up until yesterday just 11 people were killed in work-related accidents compared to twice that number last year.

Four of those who died in work-related incidents this year were working in agriculture, three of them in Co Cork.

A further three were involved in manufacturing, one was in wholesale, one was employed in the transport industry, one in public administration and one in the health sector.

Significantly, there have been no deaths in the construction industry from January 1st this year to April 12th.

The construction industry generally accounts for the second highest number of work-related deaths. It is surpassed only by the number of people killed in agriculture.

In 2005, from January 1st to April 12th, seven of the 22 people killed were employed in agriculture and a further seven were involved in construction. Two were in what was described as the wholesale trade, two in transport, and one in each of quarrying, manufacturing, business and the health sector.

According to the HSA, it is too early to say that the downward trend represents a significant alteration in attitudes to work safety. However it said last year's Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act made it a requirement that all workplaces have a safety statement and strategy. Employers and workers were jointly responsible for being aware of workplace safety.