Courts / Dublin / Report
Thornton's Recycling fined €60k over death of worked killed by defective lorry
Summary
Padraig Thornton Waste Disposal Limited, trading as Thorntons Recycling, was fined €60,000 by the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for health and safety breaches that led to the death of employee Tomasz Orzel in 2020. The court heard that a bin‑lifting lorry used by the company was defective and unsafe on 19 March 2020. The vehicle's footboards, on which workers stood, were damaged, and a proximity sensor switch designed to prevent reversing while the footboards were down had been interfered with by plastic cable ties, aluminium pull rings and additional wiring that shorted the system. The switch's failure allowed the lorry to reverse and strike Orzel. Thorntons pleaded guilty to failing to manage and maintain the vehicle, breaching the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and related regulations. The company, founded in 1979 and employing 800 people, has since reviewed its vehicle monitoring procedures.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Thornton's Recycling fined €60k over death of worked killed by defective lorry. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision
When:
- March 19, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2024-04-08 Publication
Why: A representative from Thorntons Recycling, with a registered office on Henry Road, Park West Business Park, Dublin 12, pleaded guilty on behalf of the company to failing to manage and conduct work activities, specifically the operation of the vehicle by employees in relation to a place of work under its control in that the vehicle was defective and unsafe, specifically that the near side footboard and off side footboard were damaged, the footboard sensory system was not functioning because it ha CNI source report
Places mentioned
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- Henry Road
- Park West Business Park
Topics
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