It's a basic right that when a person goes to work in the morning they can reasonably expect to come home safely in the evening, according to Martin O'Halloran, chief executive of the Health & Safety Authority (HSA).

Every year dozens of people are killed because of accidents in the workplace, with thousands more suffering injuries – some truly horrific – that leave them unable to work for the rest of their lives.

"We don't want them to be numbers. Every one of these victims is a person with a family, with a community. We see from our inspectors the devastation it causes," O'Halloran says.

For many employers, particularly those in small businesses and on farms, complying with health and safety legislation is a drain on precious time but O'Halloran said they cannot shirk their responsibilities to protect their employees from accidents.

"Last year we did 18,000 inspections. Of those, 70% will result in giving of advice. The advice could be verbal or written. We operate on the principle that the inspector has found something wrong; there is a risk but if you voluntarily improve it we won't go the legal route."

Inspection and enforcement proceedings make up the most visible part of the HSA's work. It's a task that is not always appreciated. But it is a task that must be carried out, O'Halloran said, to ensure that the decline in the number of fatalities recorded in recent years continues.

"Health and safety is not an excuse for not getting on with the job. Conversely, getting on with the job isn't an excuse to expose people to an unacceptable risk," he said.

The HSA is a prosecutorial body and while going down the legal route is usually a last resort, the authority still takes dozens of court actions each year and is not afraid to shut a company down to ensure that egregious safety hazards are rectified.

Meath-born O'Halloran joined the HSA seven years ago, after more than 20 years in various positions with Eircom (including five years as safety director). It was the recession of the early 1980s that led him to what was the phone company's forerunner, the Department of Posts & Telegraphs.

"This was the early '80s and I was doing a PhD and some of my pals had completed masters and PhDs and weren't able to get any work. I went for a few interviews but people said I was over-qualified so I bailed out."

After moving through the ranks of Eircom in Ireland, he was appointed general manager of its UK operations and spent six years there.

"The journey from P&T to Eircom – when I joined in 1981 to the late 1990s – was exciting. It was vibrant. It was about improving services, doing things better. In around 1997, when it was getting ready to be sold, the focus of customer service was being lost."

So he decided to leave Eircom and joined the HSA in 2003 before becoming its chief executive a few years later.

O'Halloran said the remit of the agency is broad and growing. In addition to inspections and enforcement, its major activity is ensuring compliance and training in health and safety legislation, including EU directives, and also monitoring the transportation of dangerous chemicals and controlling accidents involving hazardous materials.

The HSA, though, like most government agencies, hasn't been immune to cutbacks. At a time when resources are under pressure and budgets are being slashed, O'Halloran said knowing that lives are at risk has kept up the morale of his almost 200-strong staff.

"People in here know that their work is around saving lives and preventing injuries. That has its own satisfaction. We're trying to prioritise the resources we have based on our assessment of risk. We have to deliver value for money and I have no doubt we have to work hard at it. But we cannot lose sight of the fact that we are a regulator. We are a prosecutorial body in our own right and no one would thank us in one, two or three years if we turned a blind eye to failures in the workplace," he added.

Some of the big areas of concern for the HSA, such as construction, have seen massive improvements in safety, but it is the farming community that will come under the spotlight from the agency, O'Halloran said.

"Agriculture is a really big challenge for us now. We've set up a specialist team and we will do over 3,000 inspections in 2011. We've had about 20 fatalities this year. Machinery is the biggest worry, then livestock. The machinery is bigger, more complex, and when something goes wrong it is less forgiving. People say 'I know that machine; I know that bull'. We can see that accidents are foreseeable and avoidable but people don't have the perception of the risk. The farm is also the family home, so people don't see their family home having hazards."

While deaths and tragic accidents will occur, he believes the HSA has saved many, many lives.

"The difference is we can identify the bodies and victim who are killed, maimed or injured but we cannot identify the people who have been saved by the actions of the authority," O'Halloran said, adding that Ireland is now in the top three or four EU member states for safety.

The recession, though, isn't a time for employers to cut corners and take a risk on the safety of their employees.

"If you put in a bit of effort, safety doesn't have to cost a lot. Slips, trips and falls will still occur. But we will also be focusing on the occupational health effects – respiratory issues and things like that. Inspections will be down because we have a resource constraint, probably a 20% reduction."

And the recovery will also present challenges for the HSA.

"There will be an influx of people back into work either in the areas where they used to work or in areas where they don't have the full skills. The highest risk time is the first two years when they are getting to know the particular risks they face. There is going to be a real possibility of increased levels of accidents."

The O'Halloran CV

Age: 53

Education: Trinity College Dublin

Hobbies: Woodturning, plays uilleann pipes