Gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) have begun separate investigations after a father of four lost his life while working on a building site in east Cork.
The dead man was named yesterday as developer John Brown of Rostellan near Whitegate, Co Cork. He was working on a site he owned in Shanagarry when the accident occurred.
Mr Brown was a well-known figure in Rostellan. He was described as a "liked and respected member" of the community. Funeral arrangements were being finalised yesterday.
The accident happened while Mr Brown was laying pipes in a trench, which was about 3m (10ft) deep.
The trench collapsed shortly after 10am on Saturday.
Mr Brown was pronounced dead at the scene. Another worker on site at the time escaped injury.
Meanwhile, new regulations to make the construction industry safer came into effect last month.
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006, introduced by Minister for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen on November 6th last, are designed to reduce the high rate of deaths and injuries in the sector.
More workers die in construction than in any other sector except agriculture - 128 people have lost their lives since 2000.
In 2005, 23 people died following accidents on construction sites. More than 13,000 construction workers were injured in accidents last year.
Foreign workers are three times more likely to be killed in accidents than their Irish counterparts.
The new regulations place obligations on clients and designers to ensure that safety and health are taken into account before construction work begins.