An initiative aimed at tackling the continuing high rate of accidents on building sites was announced yesterday by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).
The Safe System of Work Plan enables workers to carry out their own risk assessments and was designed to cater in particular for non-nationals and those with literacy problems.
The scheme involves the use of booklets with pictograms setting out potential hazards and the steps needed to address them.
Launching the initiative, the Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Mr Tony Killeen, said it had the potential to create a major improvement in construction site safety.
The building sector was responsible last year for a third of workplace fatalities. A total of 16 construction workers were killed in site accidents, a slight drop from 17 in 2003. However, the number injured on construction sites increased by 32 per cent to 1,457. Ms Paula Gough, one of the designers of the new scheme, said the intention was that it should become "best practice" throughout the sector. All new entrants to the industry will be introduced to the scheme through the mandatory "Safe Pass" programme, she said.
The new system has been developed initially for two types of construction activity, ground work and house-building. Similar programmes are to be developed for demolition, commercial and civil work.
The emphasis on pictograms rather than words is designed to make the booklets accessible to those with English language or literacy problems. More than 1,200 work permits were issued last year to construction workers from 39 countries. These included 411 workers from Turkey, 255 from Poland and 120 from Romania.
While non-nationals make up fewer than 4 per cent of those employed in the sector, the numbers present "real language issues" when it comes to safety on site, the HSA said.