John Fletcher Limited fined €400,000 following death of employee in workplace incident

Wednesday 5th March 2025

Today, Wednesday 5th March 2025, at the Central Criminal Court, Judge Martin Nolan imposed a fine of €400,000 on John Fletcher Limited arising from a fatal workplace incident.

On 23rd Nov 2017 a four-person team was tasked with installing plant and equipment on a site at St Patricks University Hospital, James Street, Dublin 8. The system of work deployed involved the employees manually handling a section of the LV switchgear (weighing 772Kg) into an upright position inside the plantroom. An employee of John Fletcher Limited was fatally injured when he was crushed between the side panel of the plant and equipment, and the wall of the plant room .

John Fletcher Limited had previously pleaded guilty to four charges in breach of Safety, Health and Welfare legislation.

* Sections 8(1) and 8(2)(a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 contrary to section 77(2)(a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, the company failed to manage and conduct work activities in such a way as to ensure, insofar as was reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of its employees.

* Sections 8(1) and 8(2)(a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 thereby causing personal injury or death contrary to section 77(9)(a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, the company failed to manage and conduct work activities in such a way as to ensure, insofar as was reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of its employees.

* Sections 8(1) and 8(2)(e) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 contrary to section 77(2)(a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, the company failed to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare of its employees in that it failed to provide systems of work that were planned, organised, performed, maintained and revised as appropriate so as to be, so far as was reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health.

* Regulation 69(a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations, 2007, contrary to section 77(2)(c) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, the company failed to take appropriate organisation measures, or use the appropriate means, in particular mechanical equipment, to avoid the need for the manual handling of loads by its employees.

In the same case, Judge Martin Nolan imposed a fine of €5,000 on Mr. David Fletcher, a Director of John Fletcher Ltd. Mr. Fletcher had previously pleaded guilty to two charges in breach of Safety, Health and Welfare legislation.

* Section 8(2)(a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, contrary to Section 77(2) (a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and contrary to Section 80 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, in that the doing of the acts that constituted the said offences namely failing to manage and conduct work activities in such a way as to ensure, insofar as was reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of its employees.

* Section 8(2)(e) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, contrary to Section 77(2) (a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, contrary to Section 80 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, in that the doing of the acts that constituted the said offences namely failing to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare of its employees.

Mark Cullen, Assistant Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority, said,

“It is vital for employers to ensure that all works being undertaken by their employees are planned, organised, managed and conducted in a safe manner. Where there is a risk of serious injury, employers must take appropriate measures to avoid the need for manual handling of heavy loads. As can be seen from this case, failure to do so can lead to tragic outcomes.”