Following the fatal accident of an employee, Limerick City and County Council is fined €75,000

Limerick City and County Council have pleaded guilty to three charges under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 following a fatality at the Limerick City and County Council Machinery Yard, in Newcastlewest, Co. Limerick back on 14 April 2015.

The incident happened when an employee was passing through an automatic gate in the machinery yard - the gate closed on him and caused fatal injuries. The Health and Safety Authority, found that the council had failed to properly assess the risks posed by the gates and had failed to ensure they were maintained and functioned in a way that would mean they posed no risk to employees.

At Limerick Circuit Criminal Court the Council admitted to failing to:

• ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of employees;
• identify the hazards in the place of work under their control; and
• ensure that mechanical gates functioned in a way that there was no risk of accident to employees, 

and were were fined €75,000.

Assistant Chief Executive with the Health and Safety Authority, Mark Cullen, has said, "It is vital risk assessments are carried out on all areas of workplaces, including busy working yards and entrances to sites. Identifying hazards and assessing risk should be a priority, particularly in the case of automatic gates which can pose a particular hazard. Failure to do so has serious repercussions and can unfortunately lead to tragic fatal incidents like this one.”