A major quarry company that employs 300 people at eight plants was yesterday fined €6,000 for breaches of health and safety regulations after a freak accident in which a senior employee was killed.
It also emerged at Roscommon District Court that Whelan's Limestone Quarries Ltd had two previous convictions for breaking workplace safety laws, and a sister company - Whelan Contracts Ltd - had one conviction for breaches. These earlier breaches all took place at Whelan plants in the south of Ireland.
The court heard yesterday that blockyard manager John McHugh was killed in the rotating cement mixer at Whelan's plant in Lecarrow, Co Roscommon, on October 31st, 2003.
Judge Geoffrey Browne said it appeared that Mr McHugh had got into the mixer to fix a problem. Work colleagues did not know he was in the mixer, and the machine was switched on again. Whelan's was fined a total of €6,000 for the four breaches and €3,000 costs incurred by the Health and Safety Authority.