'Completely preventable': Warrenpoint Harbour Authority fined £80,000 following death of their employee in 2019
Warrenpoint Harbour Authority has been fined a total of £80,000 for the ‘completely preventable’ death of an employee, who was struck and run over by a loading shovel.
A joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) and the PSNI followed the death of Kevin McGeough, who was married and a father-of-three.
The Authority were fined the five-figure sum at Newry Crown Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to two health and safety offences.
The Court heard that on July 18, 2019, Mr McGeough was fatally injured after being struck by an industrial loading shovel that was being operated by another employee in the dockyard area.
It was added that on that same afternoon, Mr McGeough was assigned cleaning and tidying duties, including using a power washer in and around Berth 1 close to the travel route of two large loading shovels that were being used to transfer wood chip from one part of the berth to another area approximately 150 yards away. Mr McGeough was struck and run over by a 20 tonne Volvo loading shovel suffering fatal injuries.
The investigation revealed that workplace transport risks were not being adequately managed within the Port.
There was also an absence of clearly identified, segregated, and physically protected routes for pedestrians to safely move about, placing pedestrians at risk of coming into contact with moving vehicles.
The investigation identified that, at the time of incident, the loading shovel was carrying two tonnes of wood chip in its 1.69m high shovel bucket.
Prosecutors in the PPS’s Fraud & Departmental Section worked closely with HSENI and the PSNI on the prosecution case.
HSENI Major Investigation Team Inspector Kevin Campbell said: “Vehicles at work continue to be a significant cause of fatal and major injuries in Northern Ireland.
“Effective control measures must be put in place and maintained. Such controls may be relatively simple and do not need to be complicated. Detailed advice on managing workplace transport risks is readily available to employers.
“This tragic death was completely preventable. HSENI will not hesitate to take enforcement action to ensure workplace transport risks are appropriately managed.”
Enforcement action was taken by Health and Safety Inspectors following the incident to ensure steps were taken to allow pedestrians and vehicles to circulate in a safe manner around the Port.