It has been a "black week" for workplace safety, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) said today, as the number of people killed at work in the past seven days rose to four.
The authority said it was one of the worst weeks in the Irish workplace this year. The deaths bring to 63 the numbers who have died in workplace accidents since October of last year - seven more compared to the previous year.
Two died in separate incidents involving electricity and two from drowning in the last seven days.
HSA inspectors are carrying out detailed investigations into all four incidents. Investigations are also taking place into a number of workplace accidents in the past week, which have resulted in serious injury, two involving falls from heights.
On Wednesday a man was killed in an accident in the village of Carrigallen in south Leitrim and on Friday a worker, believed to be foreign national, was killed during an incident on a building site at Mountrath, Co Laois. Both incidents involved contact with electricity.
On Sunday morning the body of another man was recovered from an effluent water tank at the Carrick-on-Suir, Glanbia plant.
In Co Donegal a local farm labourer is believed to have died after falling into a slurry pit. Meanwhile two people have been hospitalised suffering serious injuries following falls in a Dublin city centre site and in Ballincollig, Co Cork.
Tom Beegan chief executive of the HSA said the incidents underlined the dangerous nature of the workplace and he appealed to employees, in particular, to be conscious of their own personal safety while working.
"The fact that two of the fatal incidents involved power supplies is a serious cause for concern. Incidents involving electricity were a major killer. I would appeal to all those working near power lines to be aware of the danger from both overhead and underground electricity cables," he said.
He urged workers to be particularly vigilant at this time of year because of increased dangers due to poor weather and reduced visibility.