Fines totalling €45,000 have been imposed on a diving company and one of its directors arising out of an incident in which a diver lost his life two years ago. Judge Bryan McMahon at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court imposed the fines after hearing how Damien Byrne (24) died during a salvage operation in Dublin Bay.
North East Diving Services Ltd, Fadebrook House, Fade Street, Dublin, pleaded guilty through David Chapman, secretary of the company and acting for it, that on July 3rd, 2004, in Dublin Bay the company failed to ensure that persons not in their employment were not exposed to danger because it conducted a commercial dive without the necessary safety systems and equipment in consequence of which Mr Byrne died.
Nigel Hoblyn (42), who lives in Britain, pleaded guilty to similar charges which were attributed to neglect on his part when he was director of the company.
Mr Byrne died after he became entangled in lines during a salvage operation on a yacht, The Animal, which had been in a collision with another vessel in the bay.
Insp Thomas Doyle of the Health and Safety Authority told Patrick McGrath, prosecuting, that the crew was made up of Mr Byrne, Mr Hoblyn and Steven Porter. Mr Hoblyn was experienced in salvages, but Mr Byrne and Mr Porter had limited experience.
They set out from Dún Laoghaire in the Jean Marie along with two rigid inflatable boats. Insp Doyle said that after arriving at the dive site they did not set down anchor over the yacht as the owners were afraid that it could be damaged. This meant the dive boat was not firmly anchored and drifted some distance from the site. An initial dive was made to survey damage to the yacht. In subsequent dives, straps and lifting bags were attached to the yacht in preparation for raising it.
One of the lifting bags was leaking so Mr Porter dived to replace it. On resurfacing, he ingested some sea water and became unwell so Mr Byrne took over and found that one of the lifting bags would not inflate.
Insp Doyle agreed with Remy Farrell, defending North East Diving Ltd and Mr Hoblyn, that at this stage Mr Hoblyn decided to abandon the operation for the night. However, after consultation with the owners it was decided to deflate the bags in case the yacht would drift and damage its hull.
Mr Byrne dived again at 8.05pm and sometime later it was noticed that no bubbles from his air tank were visible on the surface. Mr Porter, the standby diver, dived at 8.15pm. He was low on air so he had to come up before freeing Mr Byrne from the lines. He also had to borrow a knife to cut him free. First aid was administered before he was transferred to hospital where he died later that day.
Insp Doyle outlined a number of defects in the safety system and equipment on the day.
With no oral communication between the divers and the surface, Mr Byrne had been unable to signal that he was in difficulty. There was no secondary air system in place for the divers which would have allowed them to get to the surface when they were in trouble.
There was "bad air management" in operation which led to them effectively running out of air during the rescue operation. The standby diver was not "in immediate readiness" but had to resuit and be taxied from the main dive boat out to the dive site, leading to a five-minute delay in making the rescue.
Mr Farrell submitted that the company directors had expressed "very great regret and remorse". Instead of closing the company and walking away, they had kept it "ticking over" and had a sum of €45,000 to meet fines imposed by the court. His clients had co-operated fully with the Garda and Mr Hoblyn had travelled from Britain several times to help with the investigation.
Judge McMahon said external pressure "must be resisted if it meant putting the safety of employees at risk" and that we "cannot put property before life itself". He imposed a fine of €25,000 against North East Diving Ltd and a fine of €20,000 against Mr Nigel Hoblyn.