An engineering firm which employed a man who was killed on a construction site has been fined €10,000 for breaches of health and safety regulations by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Michael McGinty (22), Achill, Co Mayo, was crushed by a JCB digger at the Park West construction site in Clondalkin on September 7th, 1999.
Patrick Molloy, former director of LKC Groundworks and Civil Engineering Ltd, with a registered office in Celbridge, Co Kildare, acting on behalf of the company, pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to comply with the Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Act 1989, in that the company failed to prepare a system of work or a safety statement.
Martin O'Dea, an inspector with the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health, said Mr McGinty was working in an excavated hole with a colleague.
A third LKC employee was driving a JCB digger of which he lost control. The digger rolled back into the hole, crushing Mr McGinty. A witness told Mr O'Dea he saw the driver panicking inside the vehicle as it moved backwards.
Mr O'Dea said the driver had been working on the site for five months operating a mini-digger. He was asked to drive the JCB a week before the accident occurred although he had no previous experience or training.
Judge Frank O'Donnell fined the company €5,000 on each of the two counts and ordered it to pay witness expenses of €4,750.