A mining company has been fined almost €4,000 because of an accident in which a worker lost an eye.
The fine, for breaches of health and safety legislation, was imposed on Tara Mines at Navan District Court on Wednesday.
The court heard that the worker, Mr Kevin Doran, lost his right eye in the accident on June 16th last year.
The incident occurred when a 15-millimetre steel cable sprung from a cassette as it was being loaded manually into a mobile machine designed to install steel cables into the roof as ground support in the mine.
This cable bolting machine had been modified from its original specification so that it could carry a much larger length of cable.
The court heard that none of the men involved in the installation were experienced in the procedure for changing the cassette and there were no formal written procedures to carry out the task.
Tara Mines Limited pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 12(3) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989, in that it failed to possess an assessment in writing, as part of its safety statement, of the risks associated with the loading of a cassette into the cable bolting machine.
It also pleaded guilty to failing to take the necessary measures to ensure equipment was properly adapted for work to be carried out, as required by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Applications) Regulations of 1993.
Judge John Brophy imposed a fine of €1,904 on each of the contraventions, totalling €3,808, and awarded €1,677 in costs to the Health and Safety Authority, which brought the prosecution.
Tara Mines was fined a similar amount on May 8th last over an incident in April 2001 in which an inrush of 20,000 tonnes of wet material flushed into a working area of the mine.
