The High Court has prohibited the Health and Safety Authority from investigating or prosecuting Donegal County Council or its staff over a fatal crash on a Donegal road in 2001, ruling that the roadworks were no longer a “place of work” when the crash happened.
Kearns P. delivered judgment on 9 July 2010 in judicial review proceedings brought by the council. The order of prohibition was made on the basis that the Authority lacked jurisdiction over the incident. The judge said he would discuss with the parties whether any further declarations or orders were needed; the judgment does not record those matters as having been decided.
Sinead McDaid died after her car left the road at Dunross, Culdaff, on 12 June 2001. Council workers had resurfaced the road that morning with loose chippings. Their work ended at about 11am, traffic controls were removed at 3pm, and the road reopened to normal traffic. Warning signs remained. The court found that the work was complete and that the site had ceased to be a workplace before the crash, which occurred at about 8.10pm.
The Authority argued that the site remained a workplace because loose chippings and signs still needed attention, and workers returned the next day to sweep the road and rearrange signage. The judge found that the next-day work did not establish a continuous period of roadworks. He also noted that the works were final resurfacing, not an unfinished temporary surface project.
The Authority had decided in November 2006 to conduct a further investigation under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. The Garda investigation had sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who decided against a reckless-endangerment charge. The judgment also records that the Authority accepted any prosecution penalties would be those available under the earlier 1989 Act.
The council had challenged the Authority’s jurisdiction and also raised retrospectivity, delay and fair-procedure arguments. The judge agreed with the Authority on those other points, finding they would not have prevented an investigation or prosecution if jurisdiction existed. He said the 2005 Act was directed principally at worker safety and did not give the Authority a general role in road safety. Because the road was not a workplace at the time of the crash, the Authority could not proceed in this case.