UCC fined €80k over death of employee following cherry-picker accident

UCC was fined €80,000 and ordered to pay Health and Safety Authority costs of €4,000 for breaches which resulted in the death of an employee assisting a cherry-picker operator on campus, as the judge spoke about complacency with such vehicles on the streets of Cork.

Commenting generally on cherry-pickers he had seen on the streets of Cork City yesterday and earlier in the week — not related to UCC — Judge Donagh McDonagh said that some of them had no protective fence to keep members of the public away.

He said he saw a seven-year-old child sitting on the arm of one such vehicle, which had been left unattended with the engine running.

“What this highlights is how complacent we have become with machines. A few hundred yards from here [the courthouse on Washington St] safety in all its aspects are completely disregarded from the public’s point of view,” he said.

In fairness to University College Cork, the judge referred to their exemplary safety record, and he put the breaches in the present case at the lower end of the scale.

The college pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in a Health & Safety Authority prosecution arising out of a fatal accident where Frank McGrath, 58, died on March 5, 2013.

The deceased’s brother, Martin McGrath, said the family was traumatised by what happened two and a half years ago.

“In all that time, no effort was made to find the real reason for Frank’s death,” Mr McGrath said.

He added that it was upsetting to see a cherry-picker on the street in Cork City without a protective fence.

The judge said he knew where Mr McGrath was coming from, and he went on to itemise examples of unsafe practices he had seen with such vehicles in the city centre.

UCC admitted two breaches. Commenting specifically about the fatal case at UCC, the judge said: “There is no doubt UCC failed to carry out a complete risk assessment. If they did, it they failed to write it up in a safety statement in relation to the movement of vehicles across campus.

“The accident was all the more tragic because Mr McGrath [the deceased] seemed to be carrying out a safety function at the time.

“It is not for the court to consider what momentary lapse of attention led to his demise. The two operators [Mr McGrath on the ground and his colleague in the basket of the cherry-picker] had the safety of other persons in mind.

“These two crimes [the health and safety breaches to which UCC pleaded guilty] fall at the least serious end of the spectrum. They are a systems failure of a less gross nature.”

Inspector Michael Flynn of the Health and Safety Authority said the deceased was operating as a banksman whose purpose was to advise pedestrians to stay out of the way and give instructions from the ground to the operator if necessary.

“Mr McGrath walked in front of the machine, he was struck by it and the front right hand wheel rolled over him. A registered nurse came upon the incident and rendered assistance to Mr McGrath. He was declared dead at the scene.

“Mr McGrath was not given any training on how to work as a banksman and the man operating the machine was not given any training on how to interact with a banksman.

“We are not talking about rocket science, we are talking about standing back, assessing the risk and doing it at a time when there is less of a risk or no risk at all,” Mr Flynn said.

In a statement issued by the college after yesterday’s sentencing they said, “UCC’s thoughts are with Frank’s family today. UCC is fully committed to the health, safety and well-being of its employees, has a comprehensive health and safety system in place and carries out regular training sessions for all employees, as well as risk assessments for all its operations.”