Quarry owners were accused yesterday by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) of failing to address the industry's poor safety record.
Seven people have been killed while working in quarries since the start of last year: five in 2005 and two to date in 2006.
HSA chief executive Tom Beegan said yesterday the figures indicated that the industry was "just not getting the message" on workplace health and safety.
A workplace "safety blitz" is to be carried out on quarries next week by the HSA, which has designated September 18th to 22nd "quarry safety week".
The campaign will focus on the known causes of fatal incidents at quarries, such as machinery and vehicle safety issues.
Those found to be in breach of health and safety legislation could face legal action or closure, the HSA said.
A similar campaign in August last year resulted in action being taken against 43 enterprises operating in the sector, including quarry owners and contractors.
A total of 138 sites were visited, resulting in 29 improvement notices, 13 prohibition notices and one closure. "But the authority believes the industry has failed to take notice," the HSA said.
It added that inspectors had identified a range of issues, from quarries not having safety statements to quarry faces being worked in an unsafe manner and unauthorised access to dangerous sites by members of the public and children.
The fact that five fatalities happened last year, after none occurred in quarries in 2004, showed that mistakes in the sector were "very unforgiving", Mr Beegan said.
HSA senior inspector Pat Griffin said said he had asked the industry and representative organisations to step up the emphasis on safety issues next week by holding "in-house tool box talks or awareness training".
"Inspectors will be monitoring such activity on the ground during the week of inspections."
