THERE HAS BEEN a 40% drop in the number of accidents in the construction industry in 2019, data from the Health Safety Authority shows.

There have been 166 incidents recorded up to June 2019 – two of which were fatal – compared to 301 incidents recorded in the same period in 2018 – three of which were fatal.

Industry staff have attributed the decline in incidents to the adoption of behavioural, technological and psychological best-practices.

Dermot Carey, director of safety and training at the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) said the aim is to ensure there are no fatalities in any workplace.

“The construction industry is striving to make 2019 the year with the lowest recorded work fatalities,” he said.

“Any fatality is one too many. Every incident and fatality is poured over by construction companies to elicit learnings that are shared across the industry to improve safety.

“Signs, warnings, toolbox talks, even accident re-enactments with actors are used to constantly remind workers of the importance of safety.”

The CIF is launching the construction safety week 2019, running from the 21 to 25 October, when all 47,000 construction companies in the country will be invited to participate in safety events. 

Overall, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector has had the most fatalities, with 12 people dying and 37 others injured in the first six months of the year. 

There were five fatalities in transportation and storage, three fatalities in manufacturing, one in wholesale, retail, repair of motor vehicles sector, and one in water supply, sewerage, and waste management activities.