The High Court has dismissed a truck driver’s personal injury claim over a 2007 fall at Irish Cement’s Ringsend depot, finding he had not proved negligence by his employer or the cement company.
In a judgment delivered on 15 March 2012, Mr Justice Michael Peart found that the driver fell while descending a ladder fixed to the back of a cement container vehicle. He was carrying a high-pressure hose, which impaired his ability to descend safely.
The driver had been filling cement containers at the depot several times a day. After filling the vehicle on the day of the accident, he found what he said was an unusually large amount of excess cement on top. It was drizzling, making brushing ineffective. He parked beside a water trough because his employer had instructed him not to drive into it: the vehicle’s diesel tank risked striking the ground on the sloped entrance.
The driver said a previous driver had told him the low-pressure hose was not working. He did not check it, and said it would not have been powerful enough to remove the cement. He climbed the ladder with the high-pressure hose. A depot supervisor saw the hose at the top of the vehicle and told him to get down; the driver fell before the supervisor reached the back of the vehicle.
The judge accepted evidence that drivers were clearly warned not to use the high-pressure hose from atop a container. A prominent sign said it could be used only from the ground or gantry. The judge found the driver had been told of the rule during his induction and was aware that using the hose from the ladder was forbidden and dangerous.
The driver’s engineer argued that the trough and gantry arrangement was unsatisfactory, that the low-pressure hose might not be adequate, and that the supervisor should have taken the hose before the driver descended. The judge accepted that carrying the hose contributed to the fall and that using the gantry would have avoided it. But he found the supervisor had no opportunity to help before the fall, and that the driver could have tried the low-pressure hose or asked the supervisor or his employer for advice. Other options included positioning the vehicle to use the gantry safely.
The court concluded that the driver’s disobedience of a clear safety instruction was the immediate cause of the accident. It was not satisfied that either defendant had been negligent and dismissed the claim. The judgment determined liability; it made no damages award.