A Cork company was yesterday fined €1,000 for failing to maintain a support roller on a machine involved in an accident that claimed the life of an employee.
Mr Michael O'Sullivan was fatally injured when he became trapped in a conveyor roller belt of a stone crusher at a site in Cobh on July 10th, 2003.
His employer, Christy O'Regan Plant Hire Ltd, of Newtown, Ringmeen Rural, Cobh, yesterday pleaded guilty to one count of failing to ensure his safety, health and welfare at work by failing to maintain the conveyor support roller of a Parker Stone Crusher.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that it was the Health and Safety Authority's (HSA) belief that the accident would not have happened if the necessary bar had been in place on the machine as it would have prevented Mr O'Sullivan from becoming trapped.
Inspector Mark Rowlands, of the HSA, also said that two of the five bars that were in place were fitted incorrectly.
Defence solicitor for the company, Mr Eugene Carey, told Judge Seán Ó Donnabhain that the purchase of the stone crusher was the biggest one for the company, at a cost of €244,000, and was made in the belief that it came with all the necessary parts to comply with health and safety legislation.
He stressed that the company did not adjust the machine after it was purchased, and that his client, who was a good friend of the deceased, was traumatised after the accident.
"My client wants to put it on the record that Michael O'Sullivan was an exceptional employee and impeccable worker. He himself is terribly traumatised by the accident."
The solicitor for the O'Sullivan family, Mr Diarmuid O'Shea, told the judge that the family wished to express its gratitude to Mr O'Regan, whom it regarded as a very good employer for many years."They had no wish to see him hard done by, and they've certainly no wish to look for a pound of flesh," the solicitor said.
The Circuit Court judge said he accepted the accused's guilty plea, and also accepted that he bought the machine as new and did not adapt or configure it in any way.
"It's an appalling tragedy in every way. My sympathy goes out to the family of the deceased," Judge O'Donnabhain said. He directed that the company be fined €1,000, the sum of which is to be paid within one month.