Contractors fined €55k after man’s death
The Circuit Criminal Court, in Tralee, was told how father-of-three Michael Burns, aged 57, of Tahilla, Sneem, Co Kerry, was cleaning pipes and bending down in a deep trench on October 26, 2005, when the side of the trench collapsed.
He was hit on the chest by the side of the fence and his body was covered. He died from asphyxia and other injuries. A workmate, Tomasz Ciolek, from Poland, was on the far side of the trench and his legs were trapped and crushed by the falling material. Judge Carroll Moran said the fines should not be seen as a measure of the value of the life that had been lost.
Tinal Electrical Limited, of The Atlantic Bar, The Square, Kenmare, were the main contractors on the site at Dromneavane, on the outskirts of Kenmare, where 88 houses and apartments were being built.
Tinal director Sheelagh O’Sullivan pleaded guilty on the company’s behalf to five breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 on the opening day of the case. The company was fined €40,000.
Subcontractor Tony O’Sullivan, a sole trader of Killaha West, Kenmare, who admitted to seven charges, was fined €15,000.
Judge Moran said the larger fine was not an indication of greater culpability. Fines in matters of workplace accidents should not make a company bankrupt and put people out of work, the judge said. But, he pointed out, Tinal Electrical, was a much more substantial operation and made a net profit of €470,000 in 2006.
Tony O’Sullivan’s tax return accounts showed a profit of more than €65,000 in 2006. Matters had disimproved for both operations since because of the slowdown in building, the court heard.
Judge Moran referred to the evidence of a safety inspector who had told the court that Tony O’Sullivan had inadequate risk assessment documents and he was primarily responsible for safety as he was the men’s immediate employer. But that did not obviate the responsibility of the main contractor, the judge said.
He said both defendants failed to ensure the trench and the means of access and egress was safe. As a consequence, Mr Burns died and another man was injured.
“This was a most tragic accident which shouldn’t really have happened,” said the judge.
He paid tribute to the “Christian and very compassionate attitude” of Ms Burns, who had suffered the loss of her husband but who had maintained speaking terms with the defendants.
The court heard how the day before the accident Robert Tangney, foreman for Tinal Electrical Ltd, had passed where the trench was being dug. He had noticed a head sticking out of the trench. He measured the trench and found it was more than 2m deep.
He told people in the trench to get out and remarked: “I don’t want to go to a funeral.” He did not say who was in the trench.
The court was told Mr Burns was warned not to work in such a deep trench. Counsel for both defendants said steps had been taken to rectify matters.
“My client accepts there was inadequacy in terms of failure to supervise and monitor the situation,” said John O’Sullivan, barrister for Tinal.
However, his client had a good safety record before and since the accident.
“The fault was an aberration and temporary,” said Mr O’Sullivan (instructed by solicitor Padraig O’Connell). It was not the case that any shortcuts were being taken to save money.
Barrister John Morrissey, for Tony O’Sullivan, said his client had since hired a safety consultant to bring him up to standards of safety regulations.
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