A spokesperson for NC Engineering has told the Irish Farmers Journal that its 300 series dump trailer involved in a serious farm accident last month presented some of the damage raised in a public safety alert last year.

Co Westmeath farmer Pat McGrath received serious head injuries when the tail door of his second-hand NC 300 trailer hit him and told the Irish Farmers Journal last week that it was well maintained at the time of the accident.

The spokesperson for NC Engineering said that two qualified engineers examined McGrath’s trailer with his permission around one week after the accident.

Damaged

“The door mechanism seemed to have been damaged for some considerable time and in multiple places,” the spokesperson said, adding that it showed little evidence of being greased or serviced. They added that it was “impossible to say” whether better maintenance would have avoided the accident.

NC Engineering published a safety alert online and in the Irish Farmers Journal last year after an inquest into a fatal accident involving the tail door of a 300 series trailer.

A HSA inspector told the inquest at the time that although that trailer was badly maintained, there was a design fault with it and the incident had been replicated with a similar model in perfect condition.

Safety alert

NC Engineering said that McGrath’s trailer presented three issues listed as needing repair in the safety alert. The spokesperson added that it had written to its Irish dealers, but “in the absence of any testing or registration for trailers in Ireland it has been very difficult for the dealers to communicate this information to anyone except the original owner”.

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