HSA Annual Report 2025: 5 Lessons for Irish Employers

Quick answer: The HSA Annual Report 2025 shows a sharp rise in workplace deaths and a busy inspection programme. Construction, silica dust and working at height drew close attention. Employers should test whether their risk assessments, training and controls work on site. A file of documents alone will not protect workers or satisfy an inspector.

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has published its Annual Report 2025. It covers the first year of the 2025 to 2027 Strategy Statement. The headline figure is hard to read. Sixty-one people died in workplace incidents in 2025, compared with 36 in 2024.

The report also holds practical detail for employers. It shows where inspectors looked, what they found and where safety systems broke down. This article turns those findings into five lessons you can act on before the next inspection.

What does the HSA Annual Report 2025 tell employers?

The HSA carried out 11,968 inspections and investigations in 2025. These led to 416 Improvement Notices or directions and 417 Prohibition Notices. Inspectors also gave written advice on 9,531 occasions.

There is one point of context. Chairperson Patricia Byron notes that long-term trends show fatalities falling as a share of the total workforce. She is equally clear that each fatality is a profound tragedy. Employers should treat the rise as a warning, not a one-off.

Lesson 1: Inspectors test your controls, not your folders

An inspector does not only ask whether a document exists. They look at what happens on site. In 2025, written advice was the most common outcome by far. That suggests many inspections found gaps that were fixable but real.

Ask yourself a direct question. If an inspector arrived today, could you show that your controls work? You would need current risk assessments, trained people and records that match daily practice.

Our guide to the usable safety statement explains how to move compliance from the shelf to the site.

Lesson 2: Construction remains under the closest watch

Construction had the highest volume of any sector, with 2,845 inspections and investigations. It also received 55 Improvement Notices or directions and 286 Prohibition Notices. A Prohibition Notice stops an activity until the risk is under control. That can halt a programme quickly.

The HSA ran three construction campaigns in 2025. They covered ultraviolet (UV) protection, silica dust and working at height. The UV campaign involved 679 inspections, and sun protection was in place in 86% of them.

Duty holders should also note the new Safe Plan of Action. The Construction Safety Partnership Advisory Committee developed this standard tool, and the HSA will launch it in 2026. Our PSCS services help clients meet their safety, health and welfare duties on site.

Lesson 3: Silica awareness is high, but control is patchy

Silica dust showed the widest gap between knowledge and action. The HSA carried out 570 inspections where silica dust was a hazard. Here is what inspectors found.

Finding	Result
Employers aware of silica dust as a health hazard	93%
Inspections with a completed silica risk assessment	51%
Inspections with health surveillance completed	9%
Face-fit masks that had been face-fit tested	27%
Clean-up by brush sweeping	83%
Clean-up with industrial vacuum cleaners	11%

Nearly every employer knew that silica dust harms health. Yet only half of the inspections found a completed risk assessment. Brush sweeping generates dust, and most sites still used it.

Respiratory protective equipment (RPE) only works if it fits. FFP3 disposable masks were available in 79% of inspections. However, only 27% of the face-fit masks had been tested.

Use the findings to check your own site:

• Review the silica risk assessment for every task that cuts, grinds or drills.
• Prefer on-tool extraction or water suppression before you rely on masks.
• Arrange face-fit testing for anyone who wears tight-fitting RPE.
• Replace dry sweeping with industrial vacuum cleaners.
• Check whether health surveillance applies to your workers.

Practical health and safety training helps supervisors and operatives understand why these controls matter.

Lesson 4: Working at height risk assessments need more depth

The HSA ran an all-island working at height campaign from 6 October to 7 November 2025. It worked with HSENI, the Construction Industry Federation and Spinal Injuries Ireland. Inspectors carried out 549 inspections and found work at height as a hazard in 458. Most took place on construction sites, and 91 were on farms.

Roof work and scaffolding were the most common activities. Inspectors found two recurring scaffolding problems. Some scaffolds had no GA 3 Inspection Form. Others had no competent person with an appropriate Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card erecting them. Inadequate risk assessments appeared in 27% of inspections, and the HSA reports a high level of enforcement action.

Ask these questions on your next site walk:

• Does the risk assessment describe the actual task, such as roof edge work?
• Are GA 3 forms completed and easy to find?
• Do you know who erects and inspects each scaffold?
• Can you confirm their competence and cards?

Lesson 5: A paper trail is not a working system

The same pattern appears in other 2025 campaigns. In metal fabrication, inspectors found bypassed interlocks, weak maintenance procedures and missing risk assessments. In hardware and building supply stores, many were not risk assessing work activities. In the precast campaign, some issues from 2021 returned in 2025.

Repeat problems point to weak follow-through. A risk assessment can exist while the control fails. Training can be recorded while competence stays unclear. An audit can find a problem without anyone closing it.

A simple cycle breaks this pattern: review, identify gaps, act, train and verify. Our safety consultancy team works through this cycle with clients. EduSafe, our digital compliance platform, keeps training, contractor records and risk management in one place.

What else should employers prepare for in 2026?

• Quarries: The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations 2025 took effect on 1 January 2026.
• Industrial trucks: The HSA published its Code of Practice in September 2025. It briefed inspectors to focus strongly on enforcement in 2026.
• Asbestos: New asbestos regulations became law on 21 December 2025, with a new Code of Practice.

Five questions to ask after reading the report

1. Are our risk assessments current and specific to the task?
2. Can each worker show the training and competence the job needs?
3. Have we checked our highest-risk activities on site this month?
4. Do our inspections lead to actions with owners and dates?
5. Can we prove those actions are closed?

How can Holland Safety help?

You do not need to wait for an HSA inspection to find your gaps. Holland Safety supports Irish employers with site audits, risk assessments, safety management systems, training and ongoing consultancy. Our team trains over 15,000 learners each year, and we hold ISO 45001 certification and IOSH, City & Guilds and QQI affiliations. We start with your real activities on site and build practical fixes around them.

Frequently asked questions

1. What is the HSA Annual Report 2025?

It is the HSA's yearly account of its activity. It covers inspections, enforcement, campaigns and fatalities for 2025.

2. How many people died in workplace incidents in Ireland in 2025?

The report records 61 deaths, up from 36 in 2024.

3. How many inspections did the HSA carry out in 2025?

The HSA carried out 11,968 inspections and investigations.

4. Which sector had the most inspections?

Construction, with 2,845 inspections and investigations.

5. What did the HSA find on silica dust?

Only 51% of inspections found a completed silica risk assessment. Only 9% had health surveillance.

6. What should employers do first?

Review risk assessments for high-risk work. Then check training, competence and site controls.