Shipping firm fined €850k after welder dies in workplace accident

Inquiry found employer breached obligation to ensure employees not put at unnecessary risk

A shipping company whose breach of health and safety laws resulted in a fatal workplace accident in which an experienced welder died has been fined €850,000.

James Byrne was killed instantly on June 6, 2018, when a six-metre steel column fell on top of him shortly after he had been using a blow torch to separate it from a larger metal structure.