Irish Ferries Ltd has been sentenced for failing to have designated pedestrian walkways at a Dublin Port cargo area where a crane driver was crushed to death.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard how Stephen Bayfield, an employee of Scruttons (NI) Ltd, who were sub-contracted by Irish Ferries Ltd to carry out stevedore operations at the terminal, was crushed and fatally injured by the tyre of a crane he was due to operate as he returned from a lunch break.
Irish Ferries Ltd, pleaded guilty to a breach of section 12 of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 contrary to section 77(2)(a) in that the company failed to provide safe walk-ways for persons working at their terminal. The company was fined €125,000.
Speaking after sentencing Martin O’Halloran, chief executive of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) said: “Where there is an interaction between mobile work equipment and pedestrians, great care and consideration should be taken to ensure the separation of both. It is important that workplace transport is managed with safety in mind and all efforts are made to ensure that tragic accidents, such as this one, do not reoccur.”
An inspector for the HSA, Padraic McMahon, said Irish Ferries had since fulfilled requirements for designated walkways.
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