Cargo handling firm and machinery manufacturer fined €450,000 following death of Dublin Port worker

By Natasha Reid

A cargo handling firm and a machinery manufacturer have been fined a total of €450,000 for breaches of Health and Safety Regulations, which came to light after a Dublin father-of-four was run over by a large machine in Dublin Port.

Nicholas Collier, a 55-year-old haulier, was killed when struck by a container handler, a forklift-type truck used to remove containers, as he worked at the port on August 14, 2019.

The court heard that he could not be seen by the driver of the handler due to restricted visibility.

Belfast-based Scruttons (NI) Ltd and Swedish company Kalmar Solutions AB were before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, where they were each charged with a breach of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act.

Kalmar Solutions AB, previously known as Cargotec Sweden AB, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the Kalmar container handler was designed and constructed to be safe and without risk to health, by failing to provide appropriate devices on it to remedy hazards due to restricted visibility from the driving position.

Scruttons(NI) Ltd pleaded guilty to failure as an employer to identify a hazard in relation to the operation of the handler, to assess the risks presented by the hazard and be in possession of a written assessment of the risks to the safety, health and welfare of individuals other than its employees.

Pádraig McMahon, a senior inspector with the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), showed the court a number of photographs of the handler, which he explained provided poor visibility to the driver as a consequence of its large equipment.

Members of the Collier family, who were in court, left the room before footage of the incident was shown.

The footage from a tug parked nearby showed the large vehicle approaching at about 25km per hour, and running over Mr Collier as he stood in the vicinity that morning.

However, footage captured from two CCTV cameras on board the handler did not show Mr Collier at all.

The court also heard that the driver of the handler, whose cab was three metres high, was unaware that there had been an impact.

“It’s a defect in the machine, that this man was driving blind?” asked Judge Martin Nolan.

“Yes, there are blind spots in the machine,” replied Mr McMahon.

“And not just reversing, but going forward,” remarked the judge.

Mr McMahon explained that such machines will have blind spots caused by the mast but that they ought to be dealt with by a risk assessment.

He said that he had received a safety statement from Scruttons and that risks were addressed in it, including striking pedestrians.

However, the safety statement and risk assessment did not address the hazards of driving it with limited visibility, so no control measures were identified to mitigate the risk.

He said that his opinion was that the assessments of risk put in place were not adequate and that, if control measures had been in place, they would have prevented the accident.

The judge asked him if there were any warnings that drivers should stay in their trucks.

“Drivers were to stay in their vehicle or close to it,” he replied.

He said that, after the accident, control measures were put in place.

These included the use of a jeep to escort the vehicle across the port, where the drivers of both vehicles would be in radio contact.

That measure has since been replaced with the incorporation of mirrors onto the machine to allow the driver to see around the mast, and zig zag driving.

Mr McMahon said that he had been provided with the driver’s manual by Kalmar and that the issue of restricted visibility had been pointed out in that manual.

However, he said that, where residual risks of collision remained, radar and infrared devices could have been used.

Under cross examination by Ronan Kennedy SC, defending Kalmar, Mr McMahon agreed that Kalmar had volunteered the information to the HSA that there was a blind spot.

He also agreed that the accident had happened on the vehicular carriageway, Mr Collier having left a pedestrian carriageway and moved into a zone where he should not have been.

Mr Kennedy suggested that the visibility problem was something that should have been addressed on the ground by the operators of the port.

“It’s the industry leader. It operates these machines in every port across the globe,” he said of his client, asking if there had been any other accident of this nature in any other port across the globe.

“Not, from my research, no,” he replied.

The judge said that an easy alteration on the equipment of this machine would have rendered the visibility much, much better.

However, Mr Kennedy said that the forward mirrors would not have prevented this accident.

He explained that the driver now must look left to see right and vice versa, and with braking distance, they would not have prevented this.

Philipp Rahn SC, prosecuting, read out victim impact statements prepared by Mr Collier’s wife, Trisha, and brother, Eamonn.

Trisha Collier said that she had been married to Mr Collier for 25 years and that she had known she would marry him on the day they met.

She said that their sons, Seán, Conor, Darragh and Cillian, had always known that he was the best dad in the world, and a fun dad.

He had since become a grandfather, but never got to meet his grandson.

She said that family was everything to her husband, and that their home is now “sad, quiet and so lonely without him”.

“He was the glue that kept us together,” she said.

She explained that they still don’t sleep at night.

“It constantly haunts us to wonder if he knew he was going to die,” she said.

“I know every day he misses being with us and that breaks our hearts. We will never get over losing Nick.”

Eamon Collier explained that there had been just 18 months between him and his brother, and that they had shared the same bedroom for 18 years.

He said that his brother had brought energy, fun and enthusiasm to the world, but never again would he light up a room he entered.

“To witness my parents put their first-born child into the grave is a moment I will take to my own,” he said, adding that they were struggling to deal with their loss.

“We have a right to a safe work place and practice,” he said. “He was not afforded this right. As a result, he was deprived of his right to life.”

Judge Nolan also privately read statements prepared by his other siblings before making his decision.

He extended the court’s condolences to Mr Collier’s family.

He said that it was clear that he was much loved and had contributed significantly to his family and community.

He said that more could have been done in relation to the forward vision of the container handler, but said that the greater culpability attached to Scruttons.

He said that both companies were very responsible and had health and safety in their minds.

However, he said that there were lapses and they must be punished.

“We’re dealing with a death here, a gruesome death and a death that probably could have been avoided,” he said.

He noted that the maximum fine was €3million, and he imposed a fine of €150,000 on Kalmar Solutions and €300,000 on Scruttons, with six months to pay.