HSENI | A waste company has been fined £120,000 and a former employee sentenced to three years and four months for manslaughter, after a worker was struck and killed by a telehandler.

Ian McCollum, aged 52, was first hit when the vehicle drove forward with its view blocked, then struck a second time as it reversed.

McKinstry Biomass Ltd and 53-year-old Walter Manley of Loanda Crescent, Newry, were sentenced following the death at the company’s Derryboy Road site in Newry on 24 January 2022. The sentencing comes after a joint investigation by the HSENI and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

McKinstry Biomass Ltd was fined a total of £120,000 for three separate health and safety offences. Walter Manley, who was employed by the company at the time, was given an immediate custodial sentence of three years and four months after pleading guilty to manslaughter and a further 12-month sentence for a separate health and safety offence. These sentences are to run concurrently with half on licence.

The tragedy happened when Mr McCollum, an employee of McKinstry Skip Hire Ltd, had driven a Volvo tractor unit with a 40ft ejector trailer of wood waste to the Newry site for disposal.

While he stood in the yard watching the waste being ejected from his trailer, a JCB Wastemaster telehandler driven by Manley moved towards the same waste bay and struck him. The telehandler then tipped its load and reversed, striking Mr McCollum a second time. He was fatally injured.

The joint investigation found significant failings in the management of workplace transport risks by McKinstry Biomass Ltd and that their risk assessment failed to adequately segregate vehicles from pedestrians. They also failed to manage the site in such a way that both pedestrians and vehicles could circulate in a safe manner, placing both Mr McCollum and others at risk.

This extended to a lack of suitable information, instruction and training in relation to working within operational areas of the site where vehicles and pedestrians would interact. There was inadequate supervision, a lack of communication, and a system of unwritten rules rather than formal protocols in relation to control measures.

A reconstruction of the incident found that the telehandler’s raised, waste-filled bucket left Manley with little to no forward visibility as he approached Mr McCollum. The cab’s rear window was dirty obstructing its visibility, and the offside rear mirror was significantly misadjusted, leaving Manley unable to see behind the vehicle.

Manley failed to identify Mr McCollum in the machine’s rear camera before reversing.

Prosecutors in the Public Prosecution Service’s Fraud & Departmental Section worked with HSENI and the PSNI to build the case.

HSENI Major Investigation Team Inspector Kiara Blackburn said: “No job should cost a person their life. Mr McCollum’s death was wholly preventable and highlights the high cost of health and safety standards falling short.

“It also serves as a stark reminder that vehicles at work continue to be a significant cause of fatal and major injuries in Northern Ireland. Health and safety measures cannot be treated as optional. Simple, effective control measures must be put in place and maintained. Detailed advice on managing workplace transport risks is readily available to all employers.

“Employees also have a responsibility to take reasonable care for the safety of others and to operate vehicles properly in line with their training and instruction. This tragedy has had devastating consequences for his family, friends and colleagues.

“We hope this prosecution sends a clear message that failures of this nature can have irreversible consequences and that HSENI will not hesitate to take enforcement action to ensure workplace transport risks are appropriately managed.”

Enforcement action was taken by Health and Safety Inspectors following the incident to ensure pedestrians and vehicles could circulate safely around the site.

HSENI | A County Tyrone company has been fined for failing to ensure the safety of its employees.

On 23 October 2023, an employee of Sean Kelly Commercials Ltd sustained serious injuries after becoming trapped between the trailer bed of a four-axle beavertail lorry and its rear wheel, whilst investigating the source of an air leak.

The HSENI investigation identified that during the work activity, an airbag on the vehicle’s suspension system deployed, causing the trailer to drop. The trailer had not been adequately supported whilst the investigations were taking place beneath it.

Following the incident, an HSENI Inspector served a prohibition notice on the company. This notice prevented any further work from being undertaken underneath vehicles where there was a risk of entrapment without means of supporting the vehicle’s body.

Sean Kelly Commercials Limited were found guilty of breaching Article 4 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 and fined £14,000.

Prosecutors in the PPS’s Fraud and Departmental Section worked closely with HSENI to build a robust prosecution case.

Speaking after the hearing, HSENI Principal Inspector Justine McIntyre said: “This incident could have been avoided. The employee suffered serious injuries, but the outcome really could have been much worse.

“When working with vehicles fitted with air suspension, vehicle ground clearance can suddenly and unexpectedly change with a drop in air pressure. This creates trapping and crushing risks, especially for those working beneath them. It is essential that these tasks are adequately risk assessed, a safe system of work is in place and suitable control measures are used.

“Such controls range from carrying out the work from a vehicle inspection pit to the use of suitable props including axle stands. Guidance is readily available to employers.”

DAERA | Harry Brown (62), Lurganeden Road, Pomeroy, Co Tyrone has been convicted for an offence under Article 7(1)(a) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 as amended. He pleaded guilty and was fined £1,500 plus £15 Offenders Levy.

The Court heard that NIEA Water Quality Inspectors responded to a water pollution incident that had occurred between 12 and 13 June 2024. They discovered that dark grey agricultural effluent was flowing along a ditch beside the Pomeroy Road before discharging to the Claggan River (a tributary of the Ballinderry River into Lough Neagh).

Inspectors traced the effluent to farm premises on Lurganeden Road. Mr Brown said he had been cleaning out a poultry house when effluent ran through a nearby wooded area into land-drainage pipes and thence the waterway.

A statutory sample of the discharge showed poisonous, noxious or polluting matter likely harmful to aquatic life in the receiving waterway.

It is an offence under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (as amended) for contravening Articles 7(1)(a), 7(2) or 7(6) regarding polluting discharges to waterways. This list is not exhaustive.

HSA | Kalmar Solutions AB and Scruttons (NI) Limited were fined €150,000 and €300,000 respectively after a terminal worker’s death.

On 14 August 2019 at Dublin Ferryport, a haulier was fatally struck by an empty container handler with restricted visibility. Kalmar failed to design safe machinery and Scruttons failed to assess visibility risks or have written assessments. Both pleaded guilty under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

HSA Assistant Chief Executive Mark Cullen emphasised the necessity of risk assessments for plant and machinery operations.

Following an HSENI investigation into a July 2021 incident at ‘Planet Fun’ in Carrickfergus, Global Events and Attractions Ltd (Scotland) was fined £15,000 for breaching Articles 4(1) and 5(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978. Inspector Jeff Johnson received a suspended sentence for issuing a safety certificate without proper inspection.

On 24 July 2021, a 53 m Starflyer ride malfunctioned, injuring multiple patrons when chairs collided with fences.

A Co. Antrim company has been fined a total of £2,000 at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court for breaches of packaging waste legislation.

Galgorm Group pleaded guilty to two charges under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007: failing to purchase the required number of Packaging Recovery Notes by 31 January 2023 and failing to submit a Certificate of Compliance for the 2022 compliance year.

The company was fined £1,000 for each charge plus an offenders levy after repeated reminders from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

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