Numbers of farm deaths fell dramatically this year from 30 deaths in 2014 to a total of 18 in 2015.
The Health and Safety Authority attributed the fall to safety initiatives by farming organisations and the Department of Agriculture, but said the numbers of deaths were still “way too high”. The number of farm deaths in 2013 was 16.
The authority revealed that overall 55 people were killed in work-related incidents in 2014 - the same number as those killed in 2014.
Among the sectors which saw an increase were the construction industry where numbers of deaths rose from eight in 2014 to 11 in 2015 and the fishing sector also saw an increase from one in 2014, to five in 2015.
Spokesman Mark Ryan said the construction related deaths did not bode well for the future as the industry was increasing employment after the recession.
He said there was potential for a lot of new workers on building sites with no experience of “knowing the right place to stand” among other issues.
Two-thirds of work-related deaths (37 of 55) occurred in businesses with fewer than 10 employees, mainly in agriculture, construction and fishing.
Mr Ryan said work related deaths were preventable and one death in any sector was too many.
Incidents involving vehicles remained the main cause of fatal accidents in the workplace, accounting for 21 of the total. Fifteen people were killed as a result of falls from height, the second most common cause of death.
There were four child fatalities in 2015, all of which occurred in agriculture. Mr Ryan said the issue here was that farms were homes as well as work places, which was not the case in most other work places.
Both the farming organisations and the Department of Agriculture engaged in extensive media and promotional campaigns last year to encourage farmers to consider their farm safety procedures.
The county with the highest number of fatalities in 2015 was Cork with 10 reported, followed by Donegal with six.
Brian Higgisson, assistant chief executive of the authority, said it will be looking for further improvements and reductions in accidents during 2016.
He said the authority would continue to focus on high-risk sectors, “but health issues such as those caused by exposure to asbestos, dust, noise and manual handling are also major risks in the workplace.
“These hazards account for more working days lost than injuries and we intend to increase our focus on these topics during 2016” he said.
The full breakdown of fatalities by sector and county is available on has.ie.
