6-month prison sentence for health & safety offence
A district court judge has sentenced a fishing boat captain to six months in prison for breaching health & safety laws. The judge handed down the jail sentence after the court heard evidence that a crewman lost his life when he fell overboard without a life jacket.
Custodial sentence for health & safety offence
To date, the courts have typically handed down suspended sentences for breaches of health & safety law. The recent Wexford case serves as an example to employers of a court handing down a prison sentence for an employment-related offence. Only two months of the six-month sentence were suspended meaning the fishing boat captain will serve four months in prison.
Fatal workplace accident
The fatal incident took place in November 2016 when the boat was fishing for whelks. The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) submitted evidence that the skipper was in the wheelhouse while two crewmen were hauling in pots. The court noted that despite life jackets being available on board, none of the crew were wearing lifejackets at the time of the accident.
The crewmen were pulling up an anchor attached to a line of pots when a swell rocked the boat causing one of the crewmen to lose his balance and fall overboard. The skipper put on a lifejacket in a vain attempt to rescue his colleague. He was not a strong swimmer, got into difficulty himself and took 20 minutes to return to the vessel. The skipper also failed to follow the prescribed ‘man overboard’ procedure that was in place. The crewman’s body was not recovered until 2 months later when his body washed up on the coast of Wales.
HSA inspector’s opinion
The HSA inspector stated in her review of the incident that marine legislation requires crew to wear lifejackets while carrying out work on an open deck at sea. The crew submitted that they had not worn lifejackets as it was awkward to complete the work in a lifejacket. The HSA noted the skipper nevertheless had a statutory duty to instruct the crew in this regard.
Defence
The captain pleaded ignorance of the legal requirements surrounding putting proper health & safety procedures and training in place for the crew. The captain acknowledged however that he was responsible for the safety of those on board.
Guilty plea
Health & safety legislation requires every employer to prepare and revise adequate plans and procedures to be taken in the case of an emergency or serious and imminent danger. The captain pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the requirement to have proper emergency procedures in place under the Safety, Health, and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
Criminal liability
The presiding judge expressed his concern that fishermen continue to take to the sea without putting on floatation devices in spite of the many accidents that have occurred. He noted that the lack of a plan drastically reduced the chances of a successful rescue. He ruled that the grave consequences of the health & safety failures needed to be marked and imposed a six-month prison sentence with the final two months suspended.
Health & safety compliance vital
Breaching almost any aspect of health & safety legislation is potentially a criminal offence. Directors and senior management of company employers are exposed not only to criminal prosecutions against their companies but also against them personally as individuals. The penalties for directors and other company officers include criminal convictions, fines of up to €3 million per charge and/or 2 years’ imprisonment. It is hard to see any business recovering from the adverse publicity and reputational damage of a serious health & safety prosecution.
If you are unsure how health & safety law affects your business, call 0818 923 923 to speak with a health & safety expert today or if you would like one of our advisors to call you backfill in your details here.
