Court 'Binds' Man £2,000 Over Sawmill Death

A sawmill supervisor who pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable care during a fatal incident at a sawmill two years ago, which resulted in the crushing of a co-worker, has been 'bound over' in £2,000.

Raymond Alexander Irwin, 33, from Cashel Road, Cashel, Garrison, restarted a machine while his colleague was inside it.

Michael Lukan, 45, had been repairing the machine, at the Balcas Sawmill near Enniskillen, at the time.

Mr Irwin was Mr Lukan's supervisor when the incident happened in May 2006.

The original manslaughter charge against Mr Irwin was not preceded, and he was instead bound over for a year.

According to prosecution lawyer Philip Mateer, there had been considerable pressure to maintain production levels at the sawmill.

He said the firm is currently under investigation by the Health and Safety Executive.

Mr Mateer said there should have been safety procedures in place whereby the conveyors would not have moved because the circuit would have been isolated, even with Irwin restarting the machines from the console.

Despite the machinery in this case being fitted with the relevant device, Mr Mateer said, "they had in fact been disabled some years previous" because they interfered with production.

"Clearly if these safety procedures had consistently been followed in this plant then the machine would have been locked out which would have meant Mr Lukan could have done his work in safety," said Mr Mateer.

Presiding judge Mr Justice McLaughlin bound over Mr Irwin to the sum of £2,000.

Making the ruling, the Justice said Mr Lukan had been killed "as a result of a failure to implement a properly structured system to protect the health and safety of him as a person" in a situation where he was working with "highly dangerous machines".

The Justice said he believed his recommendation was the best way to approach the case, despite it seeming "derisory".

(PR/JM)