There has been a marked decline in the rate of fatal accidents in the workplace since 1995, according to figures released today by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).
The rate has declined from 5.46 per 100,000 employed in 1995 to 4.01 in 1998 to 2.85 last year.
Welcoming the decline in fatal accidents the Chairman of the HSA, Mr Frank Cunneen, speaking at the launch of the 2002 Programme of Work, said: "While of course the ultimate goal is to bring about a dramatic reduction in this rate, we should not fall into the trap of being too negative, or of dismissing the excellent work which has been done.
"Today, as we launch this challenging programme of work, we should all give ourselves due credit for our achievements in decreasing this rate," he said.
Mr Cunneen added that he was "always delighted to see improvements in the building industry", but he pointed out that there was an "unacceptable level of deaths in the sector in 2001", and that the HSA could not in any way be dismissive of the seriousness of those statistics.