FP McCann, a quarrying and construction company in Northern Ireland, has been fined £150,000 following the death of an employee in an industrial accident, says the BBC.
According to the report, 62-year-old Victor Nicholl was found fatally injured beside a dumper truck at Knockloughrim Quarry near Magherafelt in County Londonderry on 13 March 2015.
During a trial at Belfast Crown Court, FP McCann admitted to two breaches of health and safety legislation.
Nicholl, who had worked for the company for 19 years, had been moving material from a crushing and screening plant to a stockpile area on a dumper truck at the quarry.
The vehicle was found stopped with the wheels lodged in build-up of material called edge protection - which helps to prevent vehicles driving into pits in quarries - along the verge of a quarry road.
The dumper truck had no parking brake, emergency steering or working seatbelt. Also, the edge protection was below the recommended height of 1.5 metres.
The judge said there was no direct link between the health and safety breaches and Nicholl’s death.
He added that the company had never previously been issued with a health and safety improvement notice and had fully cooperated with the authorities in the investigation of Nicholl’s death.
The judge imposed fines of £75,000 for each of the breaches and allowed the company three months to pay the £150,000 total.
The Health and Safety Executive’s principal inspector Anne Boylan said the vehicle was not maintained in a safe condition and was not fit for use in a hazardous environment.
