The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has appealed to employees to be conscious of their personal safety following five deaths in work accidents in the past week.
The fifth death occurred in Kenmare, Co Kerry, yesterday afternoon when a trench collapsed on a man working on a building site.
The Health and Safety Authority has also warned that under recent legislation, in force since September, employers and employees can be subject to significant on-the-spot fines for safety breaches.
The other four men to die in the past seven days died in separate incidents, two involving electricity and two from drowning.
Gardaí were last night at the scene of the workplace fatality at a building site in a new housing development at Gortamullen on the outskirts of the town.
HSA inspectors and officers were also on their way to the scene.
A man, believed to be local, died when a trench collapsed on him at the building site a little after 2.30pm. A Polish colleague also working in the trench at the time was injured. It is understood he suffered a broken leg.
Gardaí were piecing the details together last night but confirmed the local man died at the scene. His family was being contacted.
This latest fatality means that since last October, 64 people have died in accidents in the workplace.
HSA inspectors are investigating all this week's incidents.
HSA chief executive Tom Beegan said that in the past three weeks, four people had also been seriously injured in workplace falls. "These injuries are the cases behind the deaths and they fundamentally change people's lives," he said.
"We want to get the message across that if it is not safe, you should not do it. We are asking people to change their attitude and behaviour, to think the unthinkable. What would the impact of your death have on your family and colleagues?"
He said there was specific mention of on-the-spot fines for staff and employers in safety legislation implemented on September 1st and HSA officers would inspect sites and enforce fines.
"We want employees to refuse to do work if they believe it is unsafe," he said.
"We now have the strongest protection that exists in law in Europe for people who refuse to work in unsafe conditions. If they say no they will have our full backing."
He also highlighted that €1.6 billion was lost to industry last year due to absenteeism following workplace accidents.
"This is a cost that can be reduced if safety is made a priority," he said. "Simple steps include observing what could cause harm in a workplace before starting to work and then either getting rid of it or figuring out how it can be controlled."
Siptu health and safety adviser Sylvester Cronin claimed that recent fatalities were the tip of the iceberg when it came to the true level of work-related deaths.
"The only viable option is for every employer to use all the proper preventative procedures - including full consultations with workers and their representatives to protect workers from accidents or fatalities," he said.
Workplace deaths: in past week
Wednesday, October 18th: a man who was working for a sub-contractor to the ESB died during work erecting electricity poles in the village of Carrigallen in south Leitrim. The man was working near an excavator when it came in contact with overhead power lines and killed him.
Friday, October 20th: Jacques Coetzee (30) from South Africa was killed during an incident on a building site at Mountrath, Co Laois.
He was involved in moving concrete slabs when the equipment he was using also came into contact with overhead power cables.
Sunday, October 23rd: Owen Power died in the Glanbia Plant where he worked in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary. The man in his late 40s was found in an effluent tank in the plant.
Sunday, October 23rd: Donegal farm labourer Séamus McCandless died when he fell into a slurry pit on a local farm.
Yesterday: A man dies in Kenmare, Co Kerry, when a trench collapsed on a building site.
In the past 12 months, 64 people have died in workplace accidents.