by Bernie English
LIMERICK City and County Council has been fined €75,000 following a fatal workplace accident at its machinery yard in Newcastle West.
The Health and Safety Authority took a Circuit Court action against the council after its employee James (Jim) Carroll was crushed to death by a gate at the yard on April 14 2015.
The local authority had pleaded guilty to breach of three charges under Health and Safety legislation before Judge Patrick Meghan last Monday in relation to the incident.
Judge Meghan imposed the fine on the first of the three charges, taking to other two into consideration.
All charges related to the responsibility to ensure that employees could access safe entry and exit at the yard.
The court was told that Mr Carroll, who was the father of two children, was one of the first to arrive at the yard. The gate could be operate by fob, mobile phone or desk control.
On the morning of the fatal incident, CCTV coverage showed Mr Carroll bending down to retrieve a plank, which was often placed across the sensors in the gate to stop it closing. There were no sensors outside the gate.
Judge Meghan was told that there was a previous near miss involving another employee, and a truck had also been damaged as the gate closed while it was passing through.
Those incidents were not formally reported.
Judge Meghan said there was a high risk which had not been averted by the council, but he was satisfied that this was not deliberate. The risks and safety issue has since been addressed by the local authority.
The council pleaded guilty and was fined for a breach of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, in that they failed to ensure the safety, health and welfare at work of employees, by failing to provide a safe means of access to and egress from the machinery yard.
In a statement issued after the court case, Mark Cullen, Assistant Chief Executive with the Health and Safety Authority said, “It is vital risk assessments are carried out on all areas of workplaces, including busy working yards and entrances to sites.
“Identifying hazards and assessing risk should be a priority, particularly in the case of automatic gates,” he added.
