Court fines firm after accidental death of man on premises

A builder’s merchants has been fined €5,000 by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court following the fatal injury of a man at one of its premises.

Heiton Buckley Limited pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to take reasonable and practical steps to prevent exposure to risk.

Ian Maguire (aged 20), of Kilcarrig Green Tallaght, died when four steel bundles weighing 1.45 tonnes each fell on him on July 9, 2002 at the company’s Naas Road premises.

Judge Desmond Hogan also awarded €1,500 in agreed legal costs against the company. The payments have to be made within the next 14 days.

John Harrington, Inspector at the Health and Safety Authority told Mr PatrickMcGrath BL, prosecuting, that Mr Maguire called to the premises to collect lengths of steel for his employer, "Gateway Ironworks" of Mountjoy St, Dublin 7.

Mr Maguire, who lived nearby and regularly collected steel from Heiton Buckley, picked up an order docket from the sales office and proceeded to the storage area where he collected bolt cutters to free steel bundles from the racking system they were stored in.

Believing upper bundles would be held by timber supports, Mr Maguire went for the lowest bundle in the rack. When it came apart, four other bundles weighing 1.45 tonnes each, fell on top of him. He was pronounced dead at hospital.

Mr Harrington said an improvement notice to change the storage and racking system had been served on the company and complied with. He said it would have been reasonable and practical to introduce this safety feature before the time of the accident.

Mr Jarlath Fitzsimons BL, defence counsel, told Judge Hogan the company had no previous convictions, had operated for many years without incident and took steps to rectify procedures following this accident.

He also told Judge Hogan that there had been no warning of any deficiency on the premises prior to this "tragic accident".