€125k fine after worker’s fingers amputated

A concrete firm has been fined €125,000 after an industrial accident which left an employee with four fingers amputated.

The company had previously pleaded guilty to a breach of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

At the sentencing hearing last week, Trim Circuit Court heard that on 15 May 2014 Mr Tomas Moran, an employee of Kilsaran Concrete ULC, had the four fingers of his left hand amputated while he was cleaning the dosing section of a machine used in the manufacturing of concrete products.

Ireland’s Health and Safety Authority found that there was no safe system of work in place for the cleaning of the machine involved in the accident.

Earlier this year, the Court of Criminal Appeal increased the fine handed down in the Circuit Criminal Court from €125,000 to €1,000,000 where an employee of the company was killed in Sept 2011 whilst working on another section of the same machine.

Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders

In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

Listen now!