Building unions are calling on the Government to "act now" to halt the "horrible and needless" deaths on building sites after a third man was killed on a building site within the past four days.
One man died and two others were seriously injured after a "structural collapse" at a G&T Crampton building site on South Lotts road in Ringsend at around 5 p.m last night.
The man died at the scene while the two injured men were taken to St. Vincent's Hospital.
Three Health and Safety Authority inspectors launched an investigation into the accident at the scene last night.
On Monday a man died when a trench he was working in collapsed at a site in Ballymum, Dublin while on Wednesday a man in his 60s was killed in a trench in Co Louth.
Members of the Building and Allied Trades Union (BATU) have called for a Government review of the penalties imposed on companies who breach health and safety regulations.
"The fines are very, very low," said BATU spokeswoman Ms Veronica McDermott last night. "In the context of building companies it's a very low amount of money, it's a pinprick to them."
BATU sees on-site subcontracting as one of the reasons for so many accidents.
"There can be up to six or seven subcontractors on the same site with no one taking responsibility for implementing health and safety procedures," said Ms McDermott.
"For example, when building trenches, there are about 10 procedures to be followed which should result in a one in a million chance of an accident," she added.
The Health and Safety Authority confirmed that last night's fatality was the 20th in construction this year so far, an increase of five on last year.
BATU is appealing to the Minister of State with responsibility for labour affairs, Mr Frank Fahey, to look at the root causes of the frequency of building site accidents and fatalities, following the recent deaths.
"Until people are going to jail or there's a real deterrent, accidents will continue to happen," said Ms McDermott.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment said that a complete review of current health and safety legislation had been completed.
"New legislation is at an advanced stage of preparation and is expected to be published early in the new year," a Department spokesman told The Irish Times.
"Significantly increased penalties" are said to be a feature of the new legislation.
SIPTU is asking for lay people with building industry experience to be allowed join random health and safety inspections.
"There are terrific people out there with experience in the industry who could act as an auxiliary force to the Health and Safety Authority by carrying out random building site inspections," said Mr Eric Fleming, construction secretary of SIPTU.
He said due care was not being taken in an industry acknowledged as very dangerous.
"Specific care, way above other industries, must be taken," Mr Fleming told The Irish Times.
"There are not enough Health and Safety inspectors and the maximum fine of €1,900 for breaches of regulations is not sufficient," he said.