176 workplace accidents at meat processors in the past year

By Gordon Deegan

There has been one fatality among the 176 workplace accidents that have occurred in meat processing plants over the past 12 months.

That is according to new figures provided by Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Leo Varadkar in a written Dáil reply to Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns.

In the figures provided, the Tánaiste confirmed that the 176 workplace accidents took place between December 1, 2019 to November 30, 2020.

This compared to 225 for the 12 months of 2019 and 234 reported to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) for 2018.

Injuries and amputations

The figures provided by the Tánaiste – which also include poultry meat plants – show that three of those to suffer workplace accidents at meat plants over the past year underwent amputations.

One suffered multiple injuries while two suffered concussion and internal injuries.

The most common form of injury in the workplace at meat processing plants was sprains and strains with 73 recorded incidents.

This was followed by superficial injuries (32); closed fractures (17) and two dislocations.

Eight injuries were classified as ‘unknown’.

The figures show that the largest proportion occurred in meat processing plants in Co. Cavan accounting for 48 or 26% of all injuries.

Mayo tops list of accident plants

The table shows that 17 or 10% of all workplace injuries occurred in Co. Mayo, followed by Kilkenny (16), Cork (13) and Laois (10).

The figures show that eight injuries were recorded at meat processing plants in Westmeath, Longford (7); Waterford (7); Wexford (7); Donegal (6); Limerick (6); Kildare (5); Offaly (5); Monaghan (3); Tipperary (3); Wicklow (3); Carlow (2); Galway (2) and Louth (1).

In his written Dáil reply, the Tánaiste stated the HSA investigates all fatalities that are related to work activity and these investigations enable the HSA to fully understand what happened and why, and to learn from and prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.

According to the Tánaiste, the investigations will also determine whether any organisation or individual has failed in their duties and determine whether any action should be taken, including enforcement or legal action including prosecution.