Kildare company fined €95,000 for fatal incident
A Kildare company has been fined in connection with a fatal workplace incident which saw the victim struck by a tractor and trailer.
At Naas Circuit Court on Wednesday, Judge Elva Duffy imposed a fine of €95,000 on Carbury Compost Unlimited Company following a fatal work-related incident which occurred at the company’s premises at Drummond, Carbury, Co. Kildare on 25 March 2021.
The victim, who had been traversing the work yard on foot, was struck by an articulated tractor and trailer unit and suffered fatal injuries. Carbury Compost Unlimited Company had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge in breach of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
The company pleaded guilty to Section 15(3) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, contrary to Section 77(9)(a), (regarding general duties of persons in control of a place of work to ensure that the place of work, means of access and egress to/from it and any article or substance provided in that place of work are safe and without risk to health) in that it failed to ensure that there was a traffic management plan in place for the part of the premises where the incident occurred and that no proper segregation of people, plant and machinery was implemented.
Speaking after the sentence, chief executive officer of the Health and Safety Authority, Mark Cullen, said: “This was a tragic incident that should never have happened. Workplaces where vehicles and pedestrians interact present well-known risks which must be actively managed. Those in control of a workplace have a clear responsibility to ensure that safe systems are in place.
“This includes effective traffic management, clear separation of people and machinery, and properly designed and marked routes. Where these measures are not implemented, the consequences can be devastating.”
