THE FAMILY of a father of four, who was killed while working at one of the State’s largest waste-management facilities, has described his death as “scandalous”, saying it was a preventable tragedy.
John Wright (64), Glenmore, Caherdavin, Limerick, died following a workplace incident at the Mr Binman plant at Luddenmore, Grange, Kilmallock, Co Limerick, on March 21st, 2008.
The company, which employs more than 200 people, was fined €40,000 at Limerick Circuit Court yesterday. Previously it had pleaded guilty to two breaches of health and safety regulations.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Carroll Moran was told Mr Wright fell under the wheel of a loading shovel truck after being grazed by the vehicle as he walked across the facility towards the company’s canteen.
Mr Binman was charged with failing to ensure the safety, health and welfare of its employees, in that the loading shovel operations were carried out without adequate measures to segregate pedestrians from traffic, as a consequence of which Mr Wright was killed.
The company was further charged with failing to ensure that its outdoor place of work was organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles could circulate in a safe manner.
The court heard Mr Wright, a truck driver with Mr Binman, died from his injuries at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick a few hours after he was struck by the loading shovel truck.
Health and safety inspector Michael McDonagh, who visited the site after the incident, said it was a busy vehicular environment.
There was no system in place by which pedestrians were segregated from vehicular traffic but he said that since Mr Wright’s death, pedestrian walkways had been put in and traffic was now regulated.
In a victim impact statement, David Wright said risks at the Mr Binman plant were easily identifiable and he described his father’s death as a “preventable tragedy”.
“We were angry because no one should get killed in a waste recycling centre. We were angry because he was killed in broad daylight . . . Risks are identifiable and can be guarded against. Not this time.
“John was an ordinary man,” Mr Wright continued. “He was a worker, and families have tragedies happen to them every day and they just have to continue. But his was a preventable tragedy and that’s scandalous.”
Mr Wright told the court his mother had issued civil proceedings against Mr Binman in respect of loss of dependency. While the firm at first contested the claim, it had since been settled and the family was satisfied with the settlement.
Martin Sheahan jnr, managing director of Mr Binman, expressed the company’s deepest sympathy with the Wright family.
He said Mr Wright, who worked for the company for 15 years, was a model employee and the tragedy should never have happened.