HSA 'pointless', says victim's mother

The family of a builder who was killed while working at a building site four years ago has described the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) as "pointless".

Justin Foley (20) died after he was crushed against a wall by a reversing lorry at Ballymun Industrial Estate in December 2002.

No prosecution was brought against any of the three companies involved in the workplace.

Nor was there a penalty imposed on any of them for their failure to immediately notify the HSA of the accident, failure to preserve the scene or to carry out risk assessments.

Mr Foley's mother, Pat Foley, was speaking at a protest yesterday against unsafe workplaces. The protest was called to mark International Workers' Memorial Day, in memory of workers killed at work. So far this year 13 people have been killed at work, the most recent a Latvian national in a fork-lift accident last week in New Ross.

The protest which included members of the Builders and Allied Trade Union (Batu), Siptu as well as representatives of the Labour Party and Sinn Féin, also called for the immediate introduction of legislation providing for a corporate killing charge.

A Law Reform Commission report, published in 2003, recommended such legislation but it has not been forthcoming.

Ms Foley said the report from the HSA following its investigation into her son's death "gave us no answers".

"We're annoyed because there were many breaches of the procedures immediately after the accident, like the scene not being preserved, and no one was punished. They just got away with it. It's pointless having a Health and Safety Authority if they won't implement their own rules. What is the point of them?"

She said that had the HSA been notified immediately of her son's death and if the scene had been preserved, the subsequent report might have been more conclusive. The report said "it has not been possible to establish beyond doubt" the reason for her son's death.

A spokesman for the HSA, however, said a "full investigation was carried out into Mr Foley's death". He agreed it was a breach of regulations that the authority was not notified immediately of the accident and that the scene was not preserved.

"But in the heat of the situation, sometimes an accident will not be notified immediately," he said.

Seán Ryan TD, of the Labour Party, called for "much greater enforcement of current law in order to save lives".

Speaking in the Dáil last month, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise Michael Ahern said the question of whether to introduce a corporate manslaughter charge was being considered by the Minister for Justice "in the context of his main responsibilities for the criminal law system".