The number of fatal incidents in the construction industry fell by almost half in two years, according to figures released today by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).
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Mr Tom Kitt.
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But the HSA said the reduced figure - 16.6 to 8.4 per 100,000 from 1998 to 2000 - is still unacceptably high.
In its annual report for 2000 the HSA said 15 building workers and three members of the public were killed on construction sites. Almost half of those were killed in falls.
Poor health and safety management, especially on smaller sites, was of particular concern. The authority was also worried at the number of "inadequate or non-existent Safety and Health plans" on some sites.
A total of 69 people were killed in workplace-related incidents in 2000 and of those 31 were self-employed, with almost two-thirds in the agriculture and fisheries industries.
The report showed more than one in three complaints to the HSA related to building.
At the launch of the report today in Dublin the Minister of State for Trade and Enterprise Mr Tom Kitt said one death in the workplace in any sector is one too many and called on people to take their responsibilities for safety at work seriously.
Mr Kitt praised the authority for its efforts in advancing standards and for meeting the majority of it targets for last year. He said increased staffing and financial resources for the authority had put it in a much stronger position than ever before.
The Minister also called for increased vigilance in the agriculture sector especially in relation to child safety.
Some of the problems noted in a survey of safety representatives in various companies and organisations included a lack of formal safety training and failure by management to follow up or respond to specific safety issues.
In response to 41 per cent of safety representatives saying they had problems getting information the authority set up a pilot contact service but reported relatively few calls.