The 58-year-old died after he was hit and run over by a 20-tonne Volvo loading shovel
A harbour in Northern Ireland has been fined £80,000 after it admitted to health and safety failures that led to the death of Kevin McGeough.
The 58-year-old died after he was hit and run over by a 20-tonne Volvo loading shovel on July 18, 2019, after he had been assigned cleaning and tidying duties using a power washer in the Berth One area, close to the travel route of the large vehicle.
Two loading shovels were being used to transfer wood chip from one part of the berth to another area approximately 150 yards away, with one of them hitting and killing Mr McGeough.
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An investigation was later launched by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland and the PSNI which found that workplace transport risks were not being adequately managed within the Port.
There was an absence of clearly identified, segregated, and physically protected routes for pedestrians to safely move about, placing pedestrians at risk of coming into contact with moving vehicles. The investigation found that, at the time of incident, the loading shovel was carrying 2tonnes of wood chip in its 1.69m high shovel bucket.
HSENI Major Investigation Team Inspector Kevin Campbell said: “Vehicles at work continue to be a significant cause of fatal and major injuries in Northern Ireland.
“Effective control measures must be put in place and maintained. Such controls may be relatively simple and do not need to be complicated. Detailed advice on managing workplace transport risks is readily available to employers.
“This tragic death was completely preventable. 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 steps were taken to allow pedestrians and vehicles to circulate in a safe manner around the Port.
The principles of managing workplace transport fall into three main areas namely ‘safe site’ which ensures effective segregation of vehicles from pedestrians, ‘safe vehicle’ which considers the most appropriate vehicle for the task and environment and ‘safe driver’ which focuses on the competence and behaviour of those who operate vehicles.
Further information on the legal requirements of managing workplace transport can be found on HSENI’s website www.hseni.gov.uk/topics/workplace-transport
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