Accident at Irish Cement plant could have been prevented court told

An accident at the Irish Cement works at Platin in east Meath which left a man with life-changing injuries three years ago could have been prevented if the company had not put plans to concrete a tipping area on the long finger, Trim Circuit Court heard.

The company, through CEO Jack Dalton, admitted that it had failed to ensure that the petroleum coke tipping area was a safe place of work resulting in the injury of a truck driver on 17th April 2018 and failed to carry out a risk assessment on the area for a person other than employee.

Health and Safety Authority inspector Roddy Molloy told prosecuting counsel Carl Hanahoe BL that a contract driver was tipping a load of petroleum coke to be used in the factory's furnace when his articulated truck toppled over as the ground was uneven.

The inspector said the yard was natural ground and after rain, coke that was spread on it to level the surface became slurried hiding potholes and ruts.

Mr Molloy said the company had been aware of problems there as trucks had frequently become stuck on the surface.

He added that the remedy was to lay down a concrete surface but while this work had been budgeted for, for a number of years it had not been done.

A number of managers had viewed the matter as an environmental issue and an operational issue rather than one of health and safety Judge Martina Baxter was told.

The court also heard the HSA had not been notified about the accident by the company on the day but was later notified by the driver's employer.

In a victim impact statement read by Mr Hanahoe the truck driver said that when his truck toppled over he had been thrown from one side of the cab to the other leaving him with extensive injuries including broken collar bone, sternum and ribs.

His injuries left him unable to work which placed him and his wife under severe financial pressure.

The court heard that compensation had since been paid by the man's employer and Irish Cement and the tipping area had since been concreted over.

A defence barrister told Judge Martina Baxter the company accepted its blame and apologised for the accident and injuries caused but he added it was not a case where it had been breaking the law to maximise profits.

The barrister described the compensation as a concrete expression of the company's remorse.

Judge Baxter adjourned the case for finalisation in the New Year.