Injury Compensation News

A report published this week by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) has revealed that absenteeism is costing the country 1.5 billion Euros each year in lost productivity.

The findings were based on a survey conducted in 2010 in which absenteeism levels in 2009 were examined across 635 companies employing a total of 110,000 people.  It was estimated in the report that 11 million working days were lost annually due to “unplanned” sick days although the report gave no indication of how many of these were due to accidents in the workplace and work illnesses.

Defining absenteeism as an “unscheduled disruption of the work process due to days lost as a result of sickness or any other cause not excused through statutory entitlements or company approval”, the report revealed that high-pressure rewards driven call centres recorded the highest absence rate (3.67%), while software companies had the lowest rates of absenteeism (1.56%). It also cited the main reason given for absence from work was minor illnesses.

However, the figures are much higher than those issued each year by the Health Safety Authority (HSA) in their annual “Summary of Workplace Injury” which, although a more accurate reflection of occupational health in Ireland (the IBEC conclusions were drawn by studying less than one half of one per cent of the workforce), are reliant on employers reporting work injury and illnesses of four or more days to the HSA.

The wide difference between the HSA figures and those estimated by IBEC could be due to an employer´s reluctance to report injuries and illness caused by their negligence. Although claims for injuries at work are declining in the farming and construction industries, those related to falls at work and repetitive strain injuries are on the increase, and if an employer reports injuries which are due to his breach of health and safety regulations, he could be inviting a visit from HSA investigators.

The publication of the report also coincides with a similar Health and Safety Executive release in the UK, which estimated that 560,000 employees in England and Wales took a total of 13.4 million days off last year due to stress in the workplace. Proportionately, it would appear that the situation is far worse in the Republic.

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has launched Construction Safety Week to reduce the number of construction accidents and construction accident claims. The focus of the safety week will be construction vehicles, presumably because the HSA as identified this aspect of construction sites as needing improvement. HSA staff will conduct construction site inspections this week.  As well as inspecting construction sites, HSA staff will also try to educate construction firms on the hazards posed by construction vehicles in an effort to prevent future accidents.

The HSA points out that accidents involving construction machinery and vehicles are responsible for very serious accidents and construction worker deaths.

Two construction workers have lost their lives so far this year, a much improved safety record compared with 2009.

The construction industry is by its very nature one of the most dangerous work environments. Directors and managers of construction companies have a particularly difficult task compared with other industries that only involve, for example, office workers.  The court case this week related to the death Polish construction worker Czeslav Malinowski illustrates the challenges. Malinowski died following a fall on Roscommon town’s main street in April 2006.

Malinowski was employed by Owencrest Properties Ltd, directed by John Doyle, and working on a project by Roscommon Building Company Ltd, directed by Noel Doyle. The directors and companies pleaded guilty to various offenses under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and were find 350,000 euro.

In a lesson to all employers, it was noted in court that the companies involved had good health and safety records and the directors were clearly distressed by the accident that resulted in the death of an employee.