File to be sent to DPP over UCC workplace death

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is poised to submit a file to the DPP following a complex investigation into the death of a member of UCC’s governing board in a workplace accident on campus last year.

A HSA inspector told Cork city coroner Myra Cullinane yesterday that their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Frank McGrath’s death is complete and is being reviewed by senior HSA staff.

Once that review is complete, the file will be referred to the DPP, he said.

He said he will brief the coroner in writing once the file is forwarded, and as soon as the DPP issues its directions as to whether any charges are to be proffered in relation to the fatal incident.

The coroner agreed to adjourn the inquest pending the outcome of the DPP’s deliberations.

The inquest, which was opened and adjourned last July, heard that Mr McGrath, 58, from Sarsfield Terrace, Richmond Hill, Cork, died from massive chest injuries due to blunt force trauma to the chest on Mar 5, 2013, following an incident on the university campus.

Mr McGrath, who worked as a member of the buildings and estates department, was working with a cherry picker machine on maintenance to campus lighting at the time of the fatal incident.

The HSA inspector told Dr Cullinane yesterday that its probe into the circumstances surrounding Mr McGrath’s death was very complex.

“It required a lot of evidence and information to be gathered and assessed,” he said.

The coroner said she will mention the case again in early September for an update on the DPP’s deliberations.

Mr McGrath was a very popular member of UCC staff who had worked in the UCC maintenance department since 1986. He was also a respected worker representative on the university’s governing board.

A tree has been planted on the college grounds in his memory.