A Cork farmer was fined €10,000 for a breach of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

The case was heard at Cork Circuit Court on Tuesday 17 November, where Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin imposed a fine of €10,000 on the farmer following a guilty plea to a breach of the safety legislation.

The case arose following an incident on a farm in Coachford, which took place on 28 September 2017. Denis Cullinane was fatally injured when a trench, in which he was laying pipes as part of drainage works, collapsed and engulfed him.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) concluded that all appropriate safety measures were not in place at the time of the incident.

Mitigating danger

A person operating the excavator at the time of the incident pleaded guilty to S12 of the safety, health and welfare at work act 2005 and was fined €1,000.

The fine was imposed for failure to ensure that persons, not being employees, at a place of work were not exposed to risks to their safety and health.

Chief inspector with the HSA Mark Cullen said: “It is important to ensure that contractors can manage and conduct all their work activities in a safe manner.

“In particular, as can be seen by this tragic case it is important that safe systems of work are in place to ensure that persons carrying out the work can do so in a safe manner.”

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