Health and safety failure led to death

A WICKLOW civil engineering company faces sentence for health and safety failures which resulted in a employee being fatally struck by a manhole cover.

Polish father Grzegorz Burczak (31), who was living in Delgany at the time of his death, was working on a manhole when he was fatally impacted by the cover after it was struck by a traffic cone with had been knocked over by a passing car.

RSJ Civil Ltd of South Winds, South Quay, Arklow, had a plea of guilty entered on its behalf at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to failing to provide systems of work ensuring the safety, health and welfare of its employees in relation to carrying out works to manhole covers at Kill Avenue Dun Laoghaire on June 12, 2012

The investigation found the company had failed to provide advanced warning signs or a safety exclusion zone and had insufficient traffic cones in place around the works.

Judge Melanie Greally said there were many issues to be considered in arriving at a just penalty and adjourned sentencing until May 12 next.

Kevin Broderick, an inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, told Sinead McMullen BL, prosecuting, that RSJ Civil Ltd was a subcontractor working on a development off Kill Avenue.

There had been complaints from local residents about ‘rattling’ noises coming from manhole covers along Kill Avenue which was beside the site. Fixing this work was not the responsibility of RSJ but one of the directors, John Kenny, was asked to take a look.

Mr Kenny found that the seals on the manholes needed to be replaced. As the material to fix the issue was available on site, Mr Kenny returned after lunch with Mr Burczak to replace the seals. Two safety cones were placed in front of the first manhole cover which was successfully repaired.

The cones were then moved to the second manhole. As Mr Burczak was working on the manhole removing the seal, one of the safety cones was struck by a car causing part of it to detach. Part of the cone struck the manhole cover causing it to fatally impact on Mr Burczak.

During the subsequent investigation, an expert engineer found that two cones were not sufficient to highlight the obstruction and separate the site from passing traffic. He said a minimum of nine cones were required and up to 19 cones in certain situations.

The investigation found there had been no provision made for a safety zone and there was no advanced signage.

Ms McMullen outlined a victim impact statement from Mr Burczak’s widow. She said they had been a normal, happy family with dreams and plans prior to the incident and had planned to return to Poland with their now 13-year-old son. She said her son was now scared he would lose her as well.

Mr Broderick agreed with Ronan Kennedy BL, defending, that the road upgrade works on Kill Avenue where the manholes were rattling had not been carried out by RSJ Civil Ltd. Another subcontractor had carried out work on the road 16 to 18 months earlier.

He agreed that Mr Kenny and RSJ Civil Ltd did not work in situations involving live traffic. The other directors were not aware the work on the manholes was being carried out.

Mr Kennedy said ‘ human error’ played a large part in the incident and Mr Kenny had not considered that it was a ‘ live road’ rather than a site. He had provided himself and Mr Burczak with hard hats and high viz jackets as well as putting up the cones.

Mr Kennedy said RSJ Civil Ltd had been formed in 2009 when the directors decided to go out on their own after being made redundant. He said it was a small and close-knit company which had no previous convictions and had had no further health and safety issues.

Following the tragedy, the company completed a full review of health and safety and engaged a consultant to make sure the systems were of the highest standard.

He said he was instructed to convey the company’s ‘deep and profound regret’ for the incident.

Mr Kennedy said they had been simply trying to help out which made it all the more tragic. He handed in an auditor’s report and said the company was well run and took its responsibilities seriously.