Suspended pothole trio back at work

Three council workers who were suspended for filling a pothole are due back at work today after their suspensions were lifted.

The long-serving workers with Cork County Council’s outdoor section attended separate hearings with officials from the council’s human resources department yesterday.

The department last night confirmed the men were being reinstated with immediate effect, and that they will not face any further sanction for their decision to fill in a pothole on their own initiative in the Carrigaline area three weeks ago.

A source close to the men said they were relieved at the outcome.

“They are just happy to be going back to work and want to put the entire episode behind them,” he said.

Siptu, which represented the workers, said the matter has now been “definitively concluded in accordance with the grievance and disciplinary procedures of Cork County Council to the satisfaction of all the parties involved”.

Union organiser Con Casey said: “The Siptu members involved have restated their complete commitment to all the health and safety procedures of Cork County Council.”

A council spokesman said it would not be appropriate for the local authority to comment on what was an internal staffing issue.

The men were suspended on full pay after health and safety concerns were raised about how they were filling potholes along a busy stretch of road last month.

The men were travelling along Bothar Guidel in Carrigaline early on Wednesday, Mar 13, when they spotted a pothole they thought posed a danger to motorists and decided, on their own initiative, to fill it.

However, a Health and Safety Authority (HSA) inspector spotted the crew working without a proper traffic management system in place.

He flagged his concerns with the council, which suspended the men on full pay pending an investigation into the alleged breach of health and safety regulations.

County manager Martin Riordan defended the suspensions and said he had to follow health and safety legislation.

Carrigaline-based Cllr John Collins, who was among several councillors who branded the decision “health and safety gone mad”, welcomed the outcome.

“These men did what anyone would do. And the county manager’s hands were tied. I accept that this course of action had to be taken.

“But legislation needs to be tackled nationally to give more flexibility to workers like this on the ground.

“We were down three men out of an outdoor staff of 26 in this area at a time when we need every hand at the wheel.”

Cllr Tim Lombard said the HSA must sit down with local authorities to devise a more practical solution.

“These men were pulled aside for doing their work. This could have been dealt with in a more humane way.”

Carrigaline businessman James O’Sullivan, who sits on the Department of Enterprise’s high-level group on business regulation, which is trying to find ways of streamlining business by eliminating red tape, welcomed the lifting of the suspensions.

“It is positive that these men are back at work and that a resolution has been found for both the workers and the county.

“Health and safety should not be compromised but commonsense should prevail in future.”

Three local authority workers involved in or near road works have been killed in Cork, Waterford, and Kildare in the last two years.

The HSA is still investigating the death of a Cork County Council worker in a workplace accident last November, as well as the death of another man in a workplace accident in the city centre a week later.

It is also investigating the death of a UCC employee in a workplace accident on campus in early March.