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Offaly County Council fined €90,000 for breaches of health and safety legislation

21st December 2021

On December 21st, having pleaded guilty to breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, Offaly County Council were handed down fines totalling €90,000 by Judge Francis Comerford at Offaly Circuit Court. 

Offaly County Council pleaded guilty to the following two charges:

  • Failure to discharge the duties of an employer as required by sections 8(1) and 8(2)(e) of the Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005 and failure to ensure the safety, health and welfare of its employees in that it failed to provide systems of work that were planned, organised, preformed, maintained and revised as appropriate.
  • Failure to identify hazards and assess risks as required by section 19(1) of the Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005 contrary to section 77(2)(a) of the Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005 and section 78 of the Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005 as amended.

The case arose following an investigation by the Health and Safety Authority into an incident that occurred on January 25th 2019 resulting in an employee sustaining serious injuries. The injured party was an observer in the work crew carrying out the work at the time of the incident.  

On January 25th 2019 a work crew from Offaly County Council were in the process of removing a lighting column at Kilbride Plaza car park in Tullamore which had become loose and was causing a risk to the safety of members of the public. During the operation to remove the lighting column, it became dislodged and struck the injured party on the head, causing him serious head and spinal injuries. 

Mark Cullen, Chief Inspector with the Health and Safety Authority said that this tragic incident arose from the lack of having a risk assessment carried out and a failure to provide systems of work that were planned and organised. “This case is a reminder to all employers to ensure they have carried out risk assessments and put in place safe systems of work to be followed for each activity that they undertake”, he said.