Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, together with an outside company doing work on an oil tanker, were each fined £16,000 yesterday for negligence arising out of the death of a workman.
Mr Norman Elwood (60), from Loopland Gardens, Belfast, died in August 1995, after he was knocked off a ladder while replacing pipes in an oil tanker.
He was employed by Rosan Ltd, of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, and at Belfast Magistrates Court the company admitted failing to ensure the safety of its workers.
Harland and Wolff also admitted failing to ensure that non-employees were not exposed to safety risks.
Mr Carl Simpson QC, prosecuting, for the Health and Safety Inspectorate, said Mr Elwood was standing on a makeshift platform when a web-sling broke and a pipe swung round, knocking him off a ladder, and he fell to the bottom of a tank.
Mr Patrick Lyttle, for Rosan Ltd, said Mr Elwood had been known as one of the best riggers in Ireland and had worked all over the world. "So it was not a case of gross lack of supervision or the company adopting a cavalier attitude," he said.
Mr Lyttle added that agreement had been reached on compensation with Mr Elwood's family.
Mr Alva Brangham, for Harland and Wolff, said the company was trying to cope with a dated shipyard culture and the Health and Safety Inspectorate was content with the progress being made in updating safety procedures.
Magistrate Mr Tom Travers said there had been an elementary breach of safety regulations, adding: "It was an accident waiting to happen."
He said the system of work was so unsafe that the only reduction he could make in the maximum fine of £20,000 was for the guilty pleas by the defendants.