A road construction company has been fined €270,000 in relation to a workplace death in North Kerry five years ago.
The man who died, Andrew Fleming, from Dunmore in Co. Galway, was an employee of Colas Contracting.
He died at at Meelcon, between Tarbert and Ballylongford, on 11th August 2020.
On Thursday (17th July), at Tralee Circuit Court, Judge Ronan Munro imposed a fine of €270,000 on Colas Contracting Limited for two breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
The company had pleaded guilty to the two charges.
The first charge (under Section 8(1) as it relates to Section 8(2)(e) and Section 77(9)(a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005) related to the company’s failure to provide a planned, organised, maintained, and revised system of work for road resurfacing that was safe and without risk to health, resulting in the death of Mr Fleming.
The second charge (under Section 8(1) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 as it relates to Section 8(2)(a) of the Act, as it relates to Section 77(9)(a)) concerned the company’s failure to manage and conduct the road resurfacing work activities in a way that ensured, so far as was reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare of employees.
A fine of €270,000 was imposed in relation to the first charge, while the second charge was taken into account but did not result in an additional penalty.
Reacting to the sentence, the interim CEO of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), Mark Cullen, said working with plant and equipment is one of the main contributing factors in workplace fatalities and serious non-fatal incidents.
He added that such work “must be planned and organised in such a manner that the work can be carried out safely”.
In a statement to Radio Kerry News, Colas Contracting Limited acknowledged the judgment of the circuit court in respect of the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Mr Fleming.
A spokesperson for the company added that their thoughts were "most importantly with the family and friends of Mr Fleming and indeed, with everyone else affected by this tragedy".
