The Commissioners for Public Works (CPW) and a Drogheda security firm were fined a total of €40,000 at Trim Circuit Court yesterday in a Health and Safety Authority prosecution arising from the death of a Nigerian security guard in Co Meath.
The body of Michael Atewojae (42) was found on October 11th, 2002, slumped in the seat of a dumper truck that was stored inside a 40-foot container where a generator had been running. A post-mortem found that he had died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Mr Atewojae had been working as a static security guard for Ivernagh Security Services, trading as JB Security Services, North Strand, Drogheda, Co Louth, which had been hired to protect a construction site on the Oldbridge Estate that the State hoped to turn into a Battle of the Boyne visitors' centre.
Mr John Bannon, a director of the security firm, pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety legislation by failing to perform the proper safety procedures required at Oldbridge House on October 10th and 11th, 2002.
Mr David Byers, on behalf of the CPW, pleaded guilty to failing to appoint a project supervisor for the construction phase of the work on the same date.
The court heard that Michael Atewojae was made fully aware of the dangers of going into the container when a generator was running and was allegedly told to make sure the exhaust faced towards the open door.
After hearing the CPW had a previous conviction for breaching health and safety regulations when asbestos was being removed from the Custom House, Dublin, Judge Raymond Groarke imposed a €10,000 fine for what he described as a second technical offence which did not directly contribute to the death. But he added there was no excuse for such a senior Government agency not knowing the law.
He recognised that Ivernagh Security Services had safety procedures in place, and that human error was largely to blame for their failure. He was satisfied the deceased had entered the container for warmth and that to suggest otherwise was outrageous.
He imposed a €30,000 fine.