The family of a construction worker killed on a Dublin building site has hit out at a €100,000 fine imposed on the company.
The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that G & T Crampton had six previous convictions, two involving fatalities, under health and safety legislation.
Father-of-two Eddie Fowler, 28, died when a plank blew off scaffolding in high winds causing fatal head injuries.
The incident happened during the construction of the Charlestown Centre in Finglas in January 2007.
Record wind speeds were recorded on the day and there had been severe weather warnings issued.
An official from the Health and Safety Authority said workers should not have been allowed onto a section of the site that day.
The court was told the company was aware of problems with scaffolding planks flying off in lesser winds and would have been aware of the severe weather warnings.
The company had taken a decision to evacuate the site when Mr Fowler was struck by the piece of wood while on his way to his tea break.
Afterwards, his family said they were outraged by the fine imposed at the Circuit Criminal Court.
G & T Crampton of Ballintaggart House, Clonskeagh Road, had earlier pleaded guilty to failing to close a section of the site on 18 January 2007.
No risk assessment for scaffolding
HSA inspector Kay Baxter said while the company had a safety statement, there was no risk assessment for scaffolding being lifted in high winds.
The day of the accident was extremely windy, with record gusts of 145km/h recorded at nearby Dublin Airport.
Ms Baxter said a severe weather warning would have been issued across all media the previous day and the company should have been aware of this.
She also said the company was aware that scaffolding had come loose three times before in lesser winds.
Remedial steps had been taken by the company to address the problem and independent safety experts had been called in to advise, but the measures taken were insufficient to secure the scaffolding in high winds on a particular section of the site, she said.
Counsel for the company Shane Murphy told the court that wind conditions on the day were described as 'a freak gust' at precisely the time the accident happened.
There were tragic accidents all around the country that day due to weather conditions, according to Mr Murphy.
He said this was not a case of a company having a cavalier disregard for safety systems. Not only did the company have its own safety officers on site, it also had independent safety officers.
A decision had been made to close the site when the accident occurred, he said. He said the weather conditions were unprecedented and unexpected.
On behalf of the company he apologised and expressed its 'profound regret' for the death of Mr Fowler.
Judge Martin Nolan said it was a very sad case and added that management had made the wrong judgement call on the day to allow workers onto the site.
He said they 'must have known that flying scaffolding boards were an obvious danger'. In making that judgement call they failed in their obligations towards people who were working on the site, he said.
Judge Nolan said in general the company had behaved well in taking the best advice it could at the time and had behaved honourably afterwards by agreeing to close the site.
He said there was no flagrant violation of safety codes and imposed a fine of €100,000.
G & T Crampton had called one witness, an auditor of the firm, to testify that the downturn in construction had led to a loss on the company's books last year.
Mr Fowler's mother and his widow said the company had 'walked away'. The fine amounted to two years' salary for a worker, they said, asking if that was the price put on a life.
They described Mr Fowler as a hard worker who never missed a day at work.
