The High Court has approved a settlement of €670,000 for the family of a construction worker, who was killed when the dumper truck he was driving overturned.

The court heard that the worker was killed when the dumper he was driving went down a steep incline on a construction site on a section of the M3 motorway. His widow sued his employer and the main contractor (a consortium of two companies) on the site.

She alleged that her husband, who was a pile layer, was required transport earth from one location to another and that owing to his employer’s and the contractor’s negligence and breach of duty towards him he was pitched forward and pinned underneath the topple dumper.

It was further alleged that even though he did not possess a CSCS card for dumpers he was required to bring backfill from one location on site and dump it into the road side of a retaining wall. It was alleged that the defendants failed to take any or adequate precautions for the safety of the worker. The claims were denied.

When the case came to court, counsel for the deceased worker’s family told the court the case had been settled. Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Eamon De Valera described it as excellent.

Last year a prosecution against the two companies comprising the main contractor’s consortium was dismissed, on the grounds that the prosecution (DPP for HSA) had not made out a prima facia case. (McAndrew v SIAC Cintra Ferrovial M3 Joint Venture and Q&F Roadway Contracting Limited: High Court, Dublin, June 2013.

Source: Health & Safety Review