Cork firm fined €90,000 over fatal incident involving employee on premises

A Cork company has been fined €90,000 following the death of an employee who was struck and driven over by a loading shovel on the premises.

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) issued details of the case against GP Wood before Judge Helen Boyle at Cork Circuit Court on Friday.

The company pleaded guilty to three counts of breaches of the Safety, Health & Welfare at Work legislation in relation to the fatal incident in February, 2019, it said.

“The movement of vehicles in workplaces where pedestrians are present is a well-known hazard for which duty holders must carry out a risk assessment in order to identify the necessary control measures to eliminate or reduce the risks to a reasonably practicable level,” said HSA interim chief executive Mark Cullen.

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“In this case, the failure by GP Wood Ltd to undertake a risk assessment and identify the appropriate control measures significantly increased the likelihood of an incident occurring, incidents which are entirely foreseeable and preventable.”

According to the HSA, GP Wood admitted failure to manage and conduct work activities in such a way as to ensure the safety, health and welfare of employees.

It also pleaded guilty to not providing a system of work that was planned, organised, performed, maintained and revised so as to be safe and without risk to health; and failure to take operational measures to prevent employees on foot coming within the area of operation of self-propelled work equipment.