The Health and Safety Authority says last year (2022) saw the lowest number of workplace fatalities since 1989.
Chairperson of the Health and Safety Board, Patricia Byron, told the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment that there has been an overall reduction in work-related deaths in the past decade.
But she said, having regard to the spike in road deaths witnessed in recent times, "one must keep vigilant at all times".
"It cannot be repeated too often that one death is one death too many," Ms Byron said.
She said the sectors of construction, agriculture, health and social care were considered by the HSA as "high-risk", given the high rates of fatal and non-fatal injuries in these sectors.
Sinn Féin TD Louise O'Reilly asked Ms Byron about the HSA's expanded remit to cover work-related psychological risks such as the risk of violence, bullying and stress, in particular in relation to the gig economy.
Ms Byron, who was appointed to the Board of the HSA last July, said a number of board members were working hard on this area.
"We have sanction (to hire additional staff) which is obviously great, but finding the right people is obviously an ongoing issue for us."
She said this area is as technical, if not more so, than the area of scientific work. "One person's perception of being bullied is one thing, one person's perceptions of being a bully is another."
Deputy O'Reilly said the capacity for bullying and the creation of stress was multiplied in the area of precarious employment, "where the power lies in the app in your device".
She also raised the issue of content moderators for social media companies, many of whom she said were suffering from PTSD after watching extreme footage.
Deputy O'Reilly asked if the HSA had the remit and resources to cover the area.
Ms Byron said she felt it the remit was within the HSA, adding that "in the same way they're subject to bullying in the canteen or [if that person] sees something that damages their psyche...that's all about - is it a healthy place to be and are you being protected to the required levels?"
Ms O'Reilly said content moderators' health and safety at work was not being protected, "we already see horrific content on social media...the stuff that they see is stuff that nobody should ever see, horrendous stuff".
While the number of fatalities has gone down, there has been an increase in non-fatal injuries - of 8% in 2022.
Ms Byron raised the issue of the large-scale fitting of solar panels across the country, saying in some cases, this was not being done by sufficiently qualified people.
She said this could account for some of the increase in injuries, from inexperienced people fitting solar panels and falling from a height.
Ms Byron said Ireland was in the top quartile in relation to fatalities and injuries internationally.
"We are doing well in terms of numbers, both nationally and comparatively," she said.
Fine Gael TD Richard Bruton asked about remote working, "are we in a good place, or playing catch up?"
Ms Byron said we had literally performed a volte-face, with many people now working from home 2-3 days a week.
"Chairs were sent out, monitors were sent out, but whether people have those set up in the right shape, form or composition needs to be inspected, and it is within our remit," Ms Byron said.
Labour Senator Marie Sherlock asked if the HSA was going to seek an update to legislation which dates from 2007.
Ms Byron said her own personal view was that it was something that should be looked at as "the terrain had changed completely". But she warned that many companies were bringing staff back to the office full time.
Incoming Chair of the Board of Enterprise Ireland, Michael Carey, also addressed the committee, where he said he aimed to place the client at the core of the agency.
Asked about female founders and their challenges securing funding, Mr Carey said he was committed to improving this.
He said female-founded companies accounted for 37% of Enterprise Ireland's clients, up from 7% ten years ago, but he said that needed to be improved further.
While he said Ireland might be approaching full employment, technology is changing and the challenges to Irish businesses in the face of that change is massive. He said there needed to be more employment in indigenous firms, adding that significant growth would come through exports.
