One of Dublin's leading construction companies specialising in apartments, Zoe Developments Ltd, has been fined £15,000 for failing to secure the safety of a 71-year-old bricklayer who fell to his death on a building site.
Judge Frank O'Donnell, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, said the company was making large sums of money but had failed to look after the safety of its workers. The judge said it was "inconceivable" that a company of Zoe's size and experience had failed to provide the correct scaffolding for its workers.
"Some accidents are inevitable - this was not," he added.
Mr Frank Burns, who fell to his death on March 7th, 1996, was working as a subcontractor on a development at the junction of Gardiner and Parnell streets. The court had heard the accident happened because plasterers might have earlier removed vital supports which caused the scaffolding to collapse.
Zoe Developments' design director, Mr David Torpey, pleaded guilty on behalf of the company earlier this month to a charge of failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the place of work was safe. Judge O'Donnell criticised the company for not providing a witness who was suitably qualified to give evidence about safety issues. He said it had been suggested Zoe Developments had only four previous convictions. However, he had since calculated that the company had 11 previous convictions for failing to provide adequate safety for workers.
He said great strides had been made in building-site safety since the 1970s and 1980s when a more "cavalier" attitude was dominant. However, aspects of the case had shown there was still a long way to go. He recommended that Zoe Developments employ a safety director in the same way it had publicity and design directors. He said saving money on safety was "a false economy" and the fine imposed should be more than "a blip" in the company balance sheet. Mr Torpey said nobody knew Mr Burns was 71 years old.