The call has been made today.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is calling for the Health and Safety Authority to have better resources when it comes to the safety of nurses, midwives and all other healthcare workers.
Making the call on Workers’ Memorial Day, a ceremony will be held at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin to commemorate those who have lost their lives or been injured in work-related incidents.
INMO President Karen McGowan is set to address those at the event and call for more protection in the healthcare sector.
“The Health and Safety Authority must act on the unsafe conditions our healthcare workers are working in and patients are presenting to,” McGowan told RTÉ.
“The HSA has done phenomenal work in transforming workplace safety in the construction and agriculture industries – if given the resources it must do the same in healthcare”.
461 people were killed in work-related incidents over ten years in Ireland, from 2013 to 2022.
In the first quarter of 2023, five people lost their lives this way.
In the 27 recorded in 2022, ten were employees, 13 were self-employed and three were not workers.
Farming is still the most dangerous workplace, with 12 incidents reported in 2022.
“Last year we saw the lowest number of work-related deaths since records first began over 30 years ago, though 27 people sadly lost their lives,” said Minister of State for Business, Employment Affairs and Retail Neale Richmond to RTÉ.
During January, February and March of this year, there have been 2,162 reported work-related injuries or illness, an increase of 3% compared to 2022.
Human health and social work, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles and construction were the sectors with the highest reports of injuries or illnesses in 2022.
