Vol. 561 No. 4
103 Mr. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of persons killed and injured in accidents on construction sites in each of the past five years; the steps being taken to deal with the unacceptable casualty rate on building sites; when the long promised legislation to increase penalties for breaches of the health and safety legislation will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4556/03]
The breakdown for construction related fatalities reported to the Authority over the past five years is as follows: in 1998 there were 22 fatalities, 19 in 1999, 24 in 2000, 23 in 2001 and in 2002 there were 22. So far in 2003 there has been one construction-related fatality. In addition, the breakdown of non-fatal accidents resulting in more than three days absence from work over the past five years is as follows: in 1998 there were 664 notified non-fatal construction accidents, in 1999 there were 601, in 2000 there were 1,108, in 2001 there were 1,059 and in 2002 there were 1,121. So far in 2003 there have been 14 notified non-fatal construction accidents.
My officials are currently working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on a weekly basis to progress the new Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Bill which will provide a legislative framework for health and safety for the next decade and beyond. I expect to have the forthcoming revised Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Bill published in mid-year and this Bill will place greater responsibilities on employers and will introduce heavier fines for health and safety breaches.
It is an appalling state of affairs when the Minister of State can read out a list of almost two dozen fatalities for each of the past five years, while each year more than 1,000 people were presumably seriously injured and missed work. Since the Tánaiste took over, her Department has been smug and complacent about these levels of fatalities. As one of the protesters said a few weeks ago—
A question please, Deputy.
—if 22 nurses or journalists were killed the House would pay more attention. Does the Minister of State agree with Mr. Tom Beegan, chief executive officer of the Health and Safety Authority, when he says there is a culture of non-compliance throughout the construction industry and that the Department has signally failed to address this? There is a management failure on almost 50% of sites and these deaths are caused by managers and companies in the construction industry. This is deplorable.
The Minister knows I used to represent my party in this portfolio – I am substituting for Deputy Howlin today – and when I did I brought forward a Bill which the Minister refused to introduce for five years. It will have taken at least six or seven years before we finally see some decent legislation. The Minister is prepared to leave it to Mr. Justice Kelly and other decent judges to put gangsters who run construction companies behind bars. The Minister should have taken legislative action; his and his fellow Minister's records are absolutely appalling.
Twenty two deaths on construction sites in 2002 is 22 deaths too many. All of us condemn and are concerned at the level of accidents in the construction sector. Progress, however, has been made in recent years in prevention and awareness measures. A safety, health and welfare at work Bill will be introduced in April of this year. It is complex and extensive and my Department and the Parliamentary Counsel are giving high priority to publishing it as soon as possible.
The construction industry has been notorious in the past for being negligent about safety in the workplace but since the establishment of the Construction Safety Partnership and a range of other initiatives, there is a much better culture of prevention and awareness in the industry. Changes have taken place. There is mandatory safety representation on sites with more than 20 employees and mandatory safety training with registration cards and there are safety officers and defined roles for site safety representatives. These regulations came into effect on 1 January 2002. The FÁS safe pass safety awareness training programme is now training more than 185,000 people in the industry, with 300 tutors in place. The safety representative project has enabled the appointment of safety representatives on all sites.
I accept what the Deputy says and I agree that this is not enough. I have asked the construction industry and ICTU to meet my officials and me to establish why the continuing significant efforts are not yielding better results. I have also asked for new codes of practice to be introduced in certain areas immediately, such as below-ground work, where it is clear building companies and builders are not following the existing codes.
The HSA is vigorously pursuing through the courts any case where employers or building companies are found to be negligent and we will continue to pursue those cases aggressively. Also, there will be greatly increased fines and jail sentences in the new legislation.
Is the Minister prepared to incorporate in the legislation two of the issues raised by the building workers a few weeks ago outside this House – legislation for the crime of corporate manslaughter and a penalty points system for the administration of sites?
I am prepared to consider the proposals made by some of the construction workers. It is a complex area and we must look at the legal implications.
