Skip to main content
IOSH Magazine: Safety, Health and Wellbeing in the world of work - return to the homepage IOSH Magaazine logo
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit @ioshmagazine on Twitter
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on LinkedIn
Gender equality
Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

Main navigation

  • Home
    • Browse previous issues
    • Member accolades
    • Member tributes
  • Health
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Sickness absence
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Rehabilitation
      • Personal injury
      • Return to work
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Achieving Fellowship
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Professional skills
      • Qualifications
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Jobs
  • Covid-19
  • Knowledge Bank
    • Back to basics
    • Book club
    • Infographics
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Videos
  • Products & Services
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Sickness absence
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Leadership
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Qualifications
      • Professional skills
      • Achieving Fellowship
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Transport and logistics
  • Third sector
  • Retail
  • Mining and quarrying
  • Rail
  • Rehabilitation
    • Personal injury
    • Return to work
  • Utilities
  • Manufacturing and engineering
  • Construction
  • Sector: IOSH Branch
    • Sector: Northern Ireland
    • Sector: Midland
    • Sector: Merseyside
    • Sector: Manchester and North West Districts
    • Sector: Ireland East
    • Sector: Ireland
    • Sector: Edinburgh
    • Sector: Desmond-South Munster
    • Sector: Qatar
    • Sector: Oman
    • Singapore
    • Sector: South Coast
    • Sector: South Wales
    • Sector: Thames Valley
    • Sector: Tyne and Wear
    • Sector: UAE
    • Sector: West of Scotland
    • Sector: Yorkshire
  • Healthcare
  • Sector: Fire
  • Sector: Financial/general services
  • Sector: Energy
  • Education
  • Sector: Communications and media
  • Chemicals
  • Sector: Central government
  • Catering and leisure
  • Agriculture and forestry
  • Sector: Local government
  • Sector: IOSH Group
    • Sector: Financial Services
    • Sector: Sports Grounds and Events
    • Rural industries
    • Sector: railway
    • Public Services
    • Sector: Offshore
    • Sector: Hazardous Industries
    • Sector: Food and Drink
    • Sector: Fire Risk Management
    • Education
    • Construction
    • Sector: Aviation and Aerospace
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Categories
  • Sectors
  • Rehabilitation
  • Personal injury
Safe systems of work
Catering and leisure
News

*UPDATE* Hotel lift crash injuries land Irish engineers with €750,000 fine

Open-access content Monday 17th July 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

*UPDATE* Hotel lift crash injuries land Irish engineers with €750,000 fine

RTÉ, the Republic of Ireland's national television and radio broadcaster, reported that five members of the Meehan family from County Meath were attending a cousin's wedding and were inside when the lift fell four floors and hit the end of the shaft. Three were seriously injured.

On 2 March, Tralee Circuit Criminal Court heard that Ellickson Engineering's installation for the refuge space safety system in the inspection pit at the bottom of the lift shaft failed to include critical components required to ensure a safe minimum space between the base of the lift and the pit. The lift could have crushed anyone in the pit carrying out maintenance work.

The omission came to light when the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) investigated a lift failure at the Killarney Plaza Hotel on 9 July 2011 that dropped the five guests about 5.85 m to the hotel's basement level.

RTÉ reported that Andrew Meehan suffered convoluted fractures to his left tibia, a broken right tibia and crushed right heel. His wife suffered a dislocated bone, which broke through the skin and was twisted at an unnatural angle. His brother suffered broken vertebrae and fractured left ankle and right heel.

The broadcaster also reported that it took up to 15 minutes before staff at the hotel realised the lift had crashed to the basement and the doors were prised open. There was no mobile coverage in the basement and the lift phone was broken. It took an hour before ambulances arrived and one of the injured members had to be cut out of the lift.

The HSA found Ellickson Engineering had installed the lift in 2004. The Irish Independent reported that the lift had special features for a refuge space so it could be safely maintained. However, lift specialist Simon Nicholas Lancaster had told the three-day trial that wiring, brackets and switches in the electrics for the lift had not been installed.

The company did not appear in court and did not send a representative. Director of public prosecutions Tom Rice said that, as a limited company, the case would proceed "as though the company had entered a plea of not guilty".

The firm, which is in receivership, was found guilty of a charge under s 10 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989.

Brian Higgisson, HSA assistant chief executive, said: "All lifts when installed must have the required safety features included and those with the responsibility for the installation process must ensure that this is the case. The consequences of failing in this duty, as we have seen, can be extremely serious."

You may also be interested in...

 Irish engineers fined €750,000 for unsafe lift pit

Friday 7th July 2017
On 2 March, Tralee Circuit Criminal Court heard that Ellickson Engineering’s installation for the refuge space safety system in the inspection pit at the bottom of the lift shaft failed to include critical components required to ensure a safe minimum space between the base of the lift and the pit. The lift could have crushed anyone in the pit carrying out maintenance work.The omission came to light when the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) investigated a lift failure on 9 July 2011 that dropped five hotel guests about 5.85 m to the hotel’s basement level.
Open-access content

 Developer’s CDM breach left worker paralysed

Monday 17th July 2017
Sukhdev Kundi was working on a stepladder on the first floor of the property when the incident happened on 30 May 2012. As he was pulling cables, he fell off the ladder and through an opening, landing 4 m below.Kundi broke his spine in three places and was paralysed from the chest down. He spent three months in a coma and a total of 12 months in hospital. He died in May 2015, with the cause of death being respiratory failure due to a collapsed lung and pneumonia alongside his spinal injuries and paraplegia.
Open-access content
The scrubber column, which is displaced up and at an angle. It should be on top of T13 and vertical. Image credit: HSE

 Explosive atmosphere planning oversight blasts chemical firm for £1.2m

Tuesday 18th July 2017
Two workers suffered minor injuries from the blast when Industrial Chemicals was operating the plant’s new hydrochloric acid (HCI) burner on 26 September 2013. Chelmsford Crown Court heard on 7 July that the burner had been used only a few occasions previously. The site had been under construction and was undergoing commissioning.
Open-access content
The roof area where the employee fell through

 Devon builder fined for fragile roof fall

Thursday 13th July 2017
Taunton Magistrates’ Court heard this week that 26-year-old Ryan Sartin was repairing a roof at Home Farm, Shepton Beauchamp in Somerset on 23 June 2016 when the incident happened.T Broom Construction of Pine Park Road, Honiton, Devon pleaded guilty to breaching reg 4 (1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was also ordered to pay costs of £1,016.
Open-access content

 Scottish haulier fined £100k for ignoring own unloading rules

Wednesday 12th July 2017
Maxi Haulage had failed to implement control measures to prevent the incident from occurring and had not followed safe working practices.The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that, on 3 February 2015, an employee at the firm’s Cape depot on Cape Road in Warwick was injured when a piece of metal ducting, 6 m long and weighing 28 kg, fell from the top deck of the trailer and struck him on the head. The blow caused serious injuries, including a fractured skull.
Open-access content
©Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock

 Construction boss jailed for 14 months over London balcony deaths

Tuesday 11th July 2017
Martin Gutaj has been sentenced to 14 months in prison and disqualified from being a company director for four years. He was found guilty of breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act at the Old Bailey in London on 19 May. Gutaj’s company, Martinisation London, has been fined £1.2m after it was previously convicted of two counts of corporate manslaughter and two breaches of s 2(1) of the HSW Act.
Open-access content
Topics
Personal injury
Safe systems of work
Catering and leisure
News
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Health and Safety Improvement Manager

Leeds
£35000 - £50000 per annum
Reference
5452992

SHEQ Systems Advisor

Up to £40000.00 per annum + Car Allowance
Reference
5452988

Senior Health and Safety Manager

Reading
Up to £65000.00 per annum + Great Car Allowance & Benefits
Reference
5452983
See all jobs »

Sign up for regular e-alerts

Receive the latest news and features, free to your inbox

Sign up

Subscribe to IOSH magazine

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
IOSH Covers
​
FOLLOW US
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel +44 (0)20 7880 6200
​

IOSH

About IOSH
Become a member
IOSH Events
MyIOSH

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to IOSH magazine
Write for IOSH magazine

IOSH Magazine

Health
Safety
Management
Skills
IOSH Jobs

© 2023 IOSH • IOSH is not responsible for the content of external sites

ioshmagazine.com and IOSH Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ