A Country Antrim waste management company has been fined £60,000, and ordered to pay costs of £20,000 after the death of an employee at its landfill site in Mallusk in August 2008.
Although it was not possible to establish the exact cause of death of David Layland, an employee of Biffa Waste Services Ltd, the investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) revealed a number of unsafe practices that had been allowed to go on around the time of his last sighting.
At Belfast Crown Court, the waste management company responded to charges for breaching the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1978/1039, in relation to the failure to ensure the health and safety of its employees, by pleading guilty.
After the hearing, the HSENI's investigating inspector, Kevin Campbell, said: "Proper arrangements must always be in place where large vehicles operate in the vicinity of pedestrians.
Where vehicles and pedestrians share a traffic route or work area, there must be strictly controlled arrangements to ensure adequate separation at all times. This applies to all workplaces and is vital in circumstances where large vehicles operate."
In a statement following the ruling, Biffa made a reassurance that they had operated since 1991, and had no previous health and safety related convictions in Northern Ireland. Biffa also stated that the health and safety of their employees was of paramount importance to them.
