More than 6,000 visits were paid to construction sites by health and safety inspectors last year, and 40 resulted in site closures.
Figures to be published in the Health and Safety Authority's annual report show that nearly 10 per cent of construction site visits lead to prohibition orders, which involve at least some activity having to cease.
Other statistics, released by the HSA at the end of last year, showed that more people died in construction site accidents than any other sector last year.
It was only the second year in the past 11 that building site fatalities exceeded the number killed in farm accidents.
Despite the bleak statistics, the HSA says safety standards are improving, and the rate of fatalities per 100,000 construction workers has almost halved since 1998.
While the total numbers killed on sites has remained fairly constant in recent years, there has been a huge increase in the numbers employed in the sector.
Provisional figures for 2002 show that 57 people died in work-related accidents, of whom 21 were killed on construction sites.
Fatalities on farms, however, were almost halved, while there was also a marked reduction in the number of child deaths in the workplace.
While the overall number of fatalities was slightly down compared to 2001, the authority said there was no room for complacency.
"There is no acceptable level of workplace deaths," said the HSA director general, Mr Tom Beegan.
"The authority will continue its programme to ensure a national agenda in which workplace health and safety is given the attention it deserves."
One positive feature of the figures for last year is that no children were killed on building sites, compared to four in 2001. Child fatalities in agriculture also dropped dramatically, from seven to two - there were a total of 13 deaths in agriculure last year compared with 24 in 2001.
There was also a significant overall reduction in fatalities in the quarrying sector, from five in 2001 to two last year.
Mr Beegan said the figures remained a matter of great concern to the HSA and he urged employers to make safety their "number one resolution" for 2003.
"Employers can start by ensuring that their safety statement is specific to the workplace and is up-to-date as required by law."
The majority of workplace accidents occurred, he said, because the companies concerned did not have an adequate management system in place for health and safety.
Of the 40 construction site closures last year, 36 were voluntary but the other four were on foot of orders obtained by the HSA in the High Court.
The 6,100 site visits also resulted in 530 prohibition notices and 228 improvement notices, which enable sites to remain fully operational while health and safety improvements are implemented.
The HSA yesterday published a five-year corporate plan, setting out a number of goals, including the application of best practice in inspection, investigation and enforcement processes.
The HSA chairman, Mr Frank Cunneen, said the plan identified the vision and the principles that would inform the work of the authority over the next five years.
