A plant hire and construction company has been fined €600,000 in relation to the death of a young worker who died when he was knocked down at their quarry site.
The partner of Christopher Miley (31) told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that when he kissed her and their three daughters goodbye on the morning of his death on October 28th, 2021, they had no idea that the man who was their “safe place” and “entire world” would never return home.
Mr Miley, who was contracted to refuel vehicles for Shannon Valley Plant Hire at Behan Quarry in Rathcoole, was knocked down by a digger in wet and dark conditions.
The court heard that Shannon Valley did not have a safe system in place for refuelling vehicles outside of daylight hours, there was no traffic marshal on site and no designated area lit up for refuelling.
Shannon Valley Plant Hire Ltd pleaded guilty to one count of failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of individuals on their work site. Behan Aggregates and Recycling Limited, the operator of the quarry, pleaded guilty to one count of failing to ensure suitable operating procedures at the site.
Inspector Manus Tiernan of the Health and Safety Authority told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that Mr Miley was employed by an oil supply company and had been refuelling vehicles at Behan Quarry for about two years prior to the accident.
The court heard that on the day in question, the driver of a digger witnessed Mr Miley approaching in his lorry around 6.40am, but assumed he was starting his work at another location. He was driving along when he felt a bump and realised he had knocked Mr Miley down.
Emergency services were alerted to the scene and Mr Miley was pronounced dead shortly after 7am.
Weather conditions
Conditions on the morning were wet, dark and windy, with low visibility, the court heard. Gardaí had difficulty accessing the scene as it was so muddy.
Members of Mr Miley's family, including his partner Shelly Keating, were in court for the sentence hearing on Tuesday, along with the three directors of Shannon Valley Plant Hire – brothers Mick, David and Dermot English. A representative from Behan Aggregates was also present.
Passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said it seemed a “certain level of complacency” had set in on-site, leading to Mr Miley being knocked down. “This shouldn't have occurred,” the judge said.
“It was obvious what was happening to Mr Miley was unsafe. It's obviously unsafe to have a man walking around in the dark on a site where there are vehicles in use.”
The judge said Shannon Valley had a responsibility to make sure the quarry site was safe. “There was no adequate lighting, there was no adequate plan in place to deal with the refuelling by Mr Miley,” he said.
Judge Nolan said he had no doubt the Shannon Valley directors were “conscientious people” and that they were devastated by the death of Mr Miley. But he said it seemed they were neglecting this particular site. He handed down a fine of €600,000 to be paid within six months. The court heard the maximum fine in such a case is €3 million.
In relation to Behan Aggregates and Recycling, the judge noted the company had a lower level of culpability. He handed down a fine of €50,000.
In her victim impact statement which was read out by counsel, Ms Keating described how she remains in complete disbelief that her partner was killed in work where he was supposed to be safe.
She described how he loves his job, which supplemented his work on the family farm, and worked hard to provide for his young family. Ms Keating said breaking the news of their father's death to their three daughters, then aged two, three and seven, left them heartbroken and inconsolable.
We will always be missing the best of us.
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“We are so broken since Christy left this earth,” Ms Keating said. “The unbearable pain is there morning, noon and night.
“Most people wake up from a nightmare. We are waking up to a nightmare every single morning. We will always be missing the best of us.”
Mr Miley's sister read out her victim impact statement which described how the family's pain was compounded by the death of their father just two months after Mr Miley was killed, which they believed was caused from the pain and stress of this event.
She said Mr Miley was a much loved son, brother and uncle, whose loss is still felt amongst his extended family.
Remy Farrell SC, defending Shannon Valley Plant Hire, said the company directors were all in court to apologise to the family of Mr Miley. He said Shannon Valley now has a number of procedures in place following a risk assessment, including a refuelling plan.
Eoghan Cole SC, defending Behan Aggregates and Recycling, said the company's relationship with Shannon Valley was terminated in the wake of the incident and the quarry was loss-making for a period afterwards.
He said the company wished to extend its deepest sympathies to Mr Miley's family, along with its apology and regret in relation to what happened on their premises.
Neither company has any previous health and safety breaches, the court heard.
