The directors of two waste-disposal firms have been fined a total of €80,000 for breaching employers' safety laws resulting in the death of Polish woman in May 2000.
The prosecution followed an investigation by the Health and Safety Authority into the incident at a waste-disposal facility in St. Margaret's, Co Dublin.
Seamus McCaul of McCaul Murphy Waste Services Ltd and Noel Murphy of Noel Murphy Waste Disposal Ltd, had pleaded guilty in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to a number of health and safety charges arising out of the death.
Theresa Kwiatkowski (44), and her husband, also Polish, had been working for Noel Murphy Waste Disposal Ltd as "waste pickers" for three weeks when she was involved in a fatal accident on the premises on May 8th, 2000.
Tom Beegan, Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority
Murphy was fined €20,000 for each of three counts of failing to inform the driver of machinery involved in the accident of potential risk, failure to provide training and failure to bring terms of the company's safety statement to the attention of employees.
McCaul, co-director of McCaul-Murphy Waste Services Ltd, was fined €20,000 for failing to prepare a safety statement.
The Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority, Mr Tom Beegan, said afterward it was "the duty of every employer to ensure the health and safety of all those working for an enterprise, regardless of nationality or language issues.
"It is critical that employers show this duty of care to non-national workers and make sure that safety concerns are clearly and properly communicated to all staff," he said.