Health and Safety Authority Annual Report 2025: Key Developments for the Construction Sector
August 2026The Health and Safety Authority (“HSA”) has recently published its Annual Report for 2025, marking the first year of the HSA’s Strategy Statement 2025-2027. The Strategy Statement sets out a three-year roadmap aimed at protecting workers, modernising safety regulations, and supporting economic sustainability in Ireland. The report highlights the Authority’s continued focus on targeted enforcement, stakeholder engagement and compliance initiatives across a range of sectors, while also recording a significant increase in workplace fatalities during the year.
We summarise below the report’s key points, with a particular focus on the construction sector.
Key Statistics
The report records 61 workplace fatalities in 2025, an increase from 36 in 2024. While the long-term trend remains one of declining workplace fatality rates, the HSA noted recurring trends in both fatal and non-fatal incidents, particularly within the agriculture and construction sectors.
During 2025, the HSA carried out 11,968 inspections and investigations. This was a slight increase on the 11,667 inspections and investigations in 2024. Arising from this, the following additional interventions took place:
- 416 Improvement Notices or directions were issued.
- 417 Prohibition Notices were issued.
- The Authority provided written advice on 9,531 occasions.
The sector with the most inspections continues to be the construction sector.
This sector accounted for:
- 2,845 Inspections and investigations
- 55 Improvement Notices or directions
- 286 Prohibition Notices
- 2,248 Written advices
The figures demonstrate the HSA’s continued willingness to utilise the full range of enforcement measures available to it.
Targeted Construction Campaigns
The HSA carried out targeted campaigns during 2025 focusing on UV protection, silica dust exposure and working at height.
A total of:
- 679 UV-related inspections;
- 570 silica dust inspections; and
- 549 working-at-height inspections
were undertaken.
The working-at-height campaign identified recurring issues including inadequate risk assessments, scaffolding compliance failures and deficiencies in supervision and competence arrangements.
Occupational Safety and Health
The report highlights an increasing focus on occupational health alongside traditional safety enforcement. The HSA carried out 10,782 inspections under its occupational safety and health remit and continued to prioritise issues such as musculoskeletal disorders, occupational cancers, psychosocial health risks, health surveillance and cardiovascular health.
The HSA also reported significant activity under its chemicals and market surveillance functions. During 2025, the Authority carried out 1,181 assessments of chemicals and industrial products in the marketplace. The report highlights the HSA’s ongoing role within the European Chemicals Agency (“ECHA”), including work on the classification of piperonal as a reproductive toxin and participation in coordinated European enforcement projects relating to chemicals sold online and poison centre notification requirements.
Digital Safety Resources
The report notes continued growth in the use of the HSA’s digital compliance tools and educational resources. During 2025, the Authority recorded 24,497 new users of BeSMART.ie and delivered 83,234 courses through its online learning platform. The continued uptake of these resources reflects the HSA’s emphasis on supporting compliance through education and guidance alongside enforcement activity.
Prosecutions and Enforcement
The report summarises a number of completed prosecutions arising from construction-related incidents. Common themes included failures to carry out adequate risk assessments, failures in work-at-height planning and supervision, and breaches of duties under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013.
The Authority completed 22 prosecutions during 2025 compared with 11 prosecutions concluded in 2024. The total fines imposed rose from €1.44 million in 2024 to €2.486 million in 2025. One defendant received a suspended sentence. There were no immediate custodial sentences imposed. These figures underline the HSA’s willingness to pursue significant enforcement action where serious safety breaches occur.
Key Takeaways
The 2025 Report demonstrates a continuation of many of the themes identified in the Authority’s 2024 Annual Report, including a strong focus on construction, work at height, occupational health and proactive engagement with duty holders. However, the increase in workplace fatalities, together with higher levels of inspection, enforcement and prosecution activity, suggests that the Authority is likely to maintain a robust regulatory approach throughout the remainder of its 2025-2027 Strategy period.
For those operating in the construction sector, the report reinforces a number of recurring themes that continue to attract regulatory scrutiny. Work at height, inadequate risk assessments, failures in planning and supervision, and shortcomings in health-related risk management, particularly in relation to silica dust exposure, remain key enforcement priorities. The increase in workplace fatalities is likely to reinforce the HSA’s focus on targeted inspections and enforcement.
If you have any questions regarding the Report or the legal issues arising out of health and safety in the workplace generally discussed in this article, please contact Sarah Conroy or Niamh Stallings.
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