Waste management company fined by judge after guilty plea to charges relating to death of employee

A BEREAVED daughter told a Judge that she would never be able to accept her deceased father would not be coming back.

Gemma Meehan read out her impact statement at Sligo Circuit Court where Castlebar-based McGrath’s Waste Management pleaded guilty to two charges relating to the death of Gemma’s father and their employee, 51-year-old Daniel Meehan.

Judge Sinead Ni Chúlacháin fined McGrath’s a total of €27,000 plus costs in relation to the two charges.

The first was failing to ensure safety, health and well-being of its employees. The second charge was failing to provide systems of work that were planned, organised, performed, maintained and revised without risk of health in relation to the place of work.

On December 11, 2018 at around 12.30pm, Daniel Meehan was working as a waste collector when he fell off a McGrath’s bin lorry when collecting wheelie bins at the Castleburn Estate in Ballymote. He died from his injuries the following day.

Gemma Meehan told the Court: “Dad’s death has impacted me greatly. He’s missed out on so much such as me graduating from secondary schools and my birthdays.

“I’ll never be able to accept that he’s not coming back. We only got 12 years together. I always ask myself, why did dad have to die?”

Daniel Meehan’s partner, Amanda Fagan, also read out an impact statement.

She told the Court: “Dan was a good father, step-dad and granddad. He loved going to work.

“We had both finally decided to get married and that was ripped from us.

“No one should ever have to decided whether or not to switch off a life-support machine.”

In giving evidence, Damian Power, an engineering consultant who examined the bin lorry vehicle, told the Court that there was a defect on the footboard sensors that Meehan would have been standing on.

The sensors – when working – can limit the speed of a vehicle to 30kph and ensure that the lorry can’t reverse.

On this occasion, the sensors did not recognise Daniel on the footboard.

Health & Safety Department inspector and lead investigator, Rodney Malloy, confirmed to the Court that the bin lorry was travelling at a speed of 24kph when Meehan fell and that the average speed of the truck over 50.9 metres was 16.88kph.

Declan McGrath, the managing director of McGrath’s Waste Management told the court that when the firm purchased that particular vehicle, the sensor was already on the truck.

He went onto add that on the day of the incident, the sensor was facing upwards – not outwards.

Mr McGrath said that he “accepted responsibility for not addressing these issues”.

He continued by saying that he had spoken with the family the day after and had attended Daniel’s funeral.

McGrath was asked if there was anything he’d like to say to the Court, he replied, “it’s been a tough five years”.

Asked if there was anything else he’d like to say, McGrath replied, “no”.

In response to the question on if he accepted that the vehicle should not have been on the road, McGrath said, “yes”.

When passing sentence, Judge Ni Chúlacháin said: “If Mr Meehan hadn’t died, the offences may not have come to light but they were discovered during the investigation. There is no evidence of deliberate action on behalf of the company.”

To Meehan’s family, Judge Ni Chúlacháin said: “I know it’s not the result you wanted but there’s nothing I can do to bring Mr Meehan back to you.”