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Workplace deaths down by 23% last year

The number of deaths in Irish workplaces fell by 23% last year compared with 2023, according to provisional figures from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).

The authority attributed the drop to “significant improvements” in the agriculture and construction sectors.

A total of 33 people lost their lives in work-related incidents in 2024. Deaths in the construction sector halved from ten to five, while fatalities in agriculture dropped from 20 to 12.

‘Vigilance and planning’

Conor O’Brien (HSA chief executive) welcomed the decline but added that every work-related death was preventable.

He called for further vigilance and advance planning on health and safety at work to further lower the number of deaths.

“Review your work practices, make risk assessment a core part of how you do business, and pay particular attention to high-risk activity – including working at height, vehicle handling, and working with machinery,” he urged.

HSA figures show that the rate of fatalities per 100,000 workers decreased from 2.7 in 2015 to 1.2 in 2024. This is the lowest figure recorded since the body was set up in 1989.

Workplaces ‘transformed’

Two-thirds of all those who died in the workplace last year were aged 55 and over. Of the 33 fatalities in 2024, the self-employed accounted for 18 (55%).

During 2024, the HSE published a strategy statement for the next three years, aimed at addressing changes in the workplace and wider society.

“Many workplaces are being transformed by technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning, and these changes are creating opportunities and challenges for safe and healthy working,” stated O’Brien.

“In addition, changing demographics – including an ageing workforce and a growing number of vulnerable, non-English speaking, and migrant workers – represent significant factors to consider,” he added.

The authority’s mandate is to promote and enforce work-related safety and health legislation, as well regulating chemicals and industrial products and providing the national accreditation service.