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As discussed at the inaugural CIF Health and Safety Summit in November 2018, workplace stress and the consequential adverse effects on a worker’s mental health is increasingly of serious concern for employers.

According to the HSA’s ‘Code of Practice for Avoiding Danger from Underground Services’, injuries that result from damage to live electricity cables are usually caused by the explosive effects of arcing current and by any associated fire or flames that may follow when the sheath of a cable and the conductor insulation are penetrated by a sharp object such as the point of a tool, or when a cable is crushed severely enough to cause internal contact between the sheathing and one or more of the conductors.

Working at height is one of the recurring cause of fatalities and serious injury in Ireland. A review of construction-related fatal accidents, as undertaken by the HSA for the years 1989 to 2016, identified falling from height as the single most common cause of fatal accidents.

The hazards and associated liabilities of employees driving for work pose many issues, which are exacerbated through speeding or a loss of attention caused by driver distraction, fatigue or other influence (eg, intoxicants).