Belfast Harbour Commissioners fined following the death of worker

Following a joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) and Police Service for Northern Ireland into the death of a worker at Belfast Harbour on 21 March 2017, Belfast Harbour Commissioners has today been fined £110,000 at Laganside Crown Court after pleading guilty to a single health and safety offence.

Mr Neil Rooney, a 36-year-old employee of Scruttons (NI) Limited, was assisting in the offloading of coal from a ship at the Port, using equipment hired to them by Belfast Harbour Commissioners. The equipment included a large, raised transfer hopper used to temporarily store the coal prior to discharge into lorry trailers parked underneath.

Mr Rooney was working within the operator’s cabin on the transfer hopper when the hopper support structure failed and capsized as coal was being discharged into the hopper. Mr Rooney was buried under the hopper and coal. There was approximately 118 tonnes of coal in the hopper when it failed. Mr Rooney died at the scene as a result of the injuries sustained during the incident.

Prosecutors in the PPS’s Fraud & Departmental Section worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland and the PSNI to build a robust prosecution case.

Speaking after the hearing, HSENI Inspector Kevin Campbell said: “In this tragic case there was a failure to inspect, examine and maintain the hopper to ensure that it was safe to use.

“It is vital that all duty holders have a robust inspection and planned maintenance regime for their equipment, taking account of the conditions in which the equipment is used.

“Where defects are identified, equipment must be taken out of service until they are made safe. Where modifications are made, proper assessments and calculations must be made to ensure that the structure is capable of supporting the intended weights and forces that the plant will be subjected to.”

The investigation found that the original hopper was manufactured in the mid 1980’s, and had undergone modifications over the years to increase its working capacity.  The investigation revealed that there was a lack of adequate examinations made to the hopper to identify any weaknesses in the support structure, as well as inadequate proactive inspections to ensure that the hopper was safe to use.

The hopper was designed with a capacity of 87m³ when originally manufactured, with subsequent modifications increasing the hopper capacity to 100m³. Belfast Harbour Commissioners failed to calculate whether the original support structure could support the increased sized hopper, and weight capacity.

It was also identified that safety margins factored into the original design were lost over its working life which reduced the strength of the structure. Similar hoppers in use at the Port were also observed to be in poor structural condition and were subsequently decommissioned.

Further information on the inspection and maintenance of work equipment can be found on HSENI’s website www.hseni.gov.uk/articles/safe-maintenance

Notes to editors: 

1. Breaches and fines for Belfast Harbour Commissioners are as follows:
   a) Article 5(1) of the Health and Safety Work at Work Order (NI) 1978, fine of £110,000 (relating to the failure to ensure the safety of non-employees).
2. For media enquiries please contact: HSENI Press Office on 028 9024 3249 or email media@hseni.gov.uk. For out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 9037 8110.

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