A construction company has been fined €7,500 by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, which heard an employee suffered an electric shock when a water pipe touched overhead power lines.
Mr P. J. O'Connell of Ascon Ltd received injuries to his hands and feet when positioning the steel water pipe being lifted by a crane on the M1 motorway near Swords.
Ascon pleaded guilty to failing to comply with health and safety regulations on April 4th, 2001. The court heard that Ascon had procedures in place for working under power lines but they were not followed in this case.
Insp Greg Murphy, from the National Association of Occupational Safety and Health, said Ascon had been fined €1,500 earlier this year for failing to adhere to similar safety procedures.
Mr Bernard Murphy, an Ascon director, said the company accepted full responsibility for the accident. He said all employees underwent a safety induction when they joined and were trained in working under overhead power lines.
Judge Desmond Hogan said he accepted there was a safety scheme in place but "the pipes were moved to an area that was patently unsafe and an accident occurred because of a miscalculation and an error of judgment of an experienced crane driver".