The Kildare Chilling Company, which had previously pleaded guilty to three charges in breach of safety, health and welfare legislation, has been fined €225,000.

The charges relate to a fatal workplace accident that took place at the company's site on Curragh Road, Kildare Town in May 2020.

Binak Cokaj, who had been working as a packer, suffered fatal head injuries as a result of the lid of a vacuum packing machine closing on him as he was working at it.

Judge Elva Duffy at a sitting of Kildare Circuit Court sitting in Naas yesterday (Friday, January 16) imposed a fine of €225,000 on the Kildare Chilling Company.

The Kildare Chilling Company had previously pleaded guilty to three charges in breach of safety, health and welfare legislation.

These included that it had failed to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, "the safety, health, and welfare at work of its employees" in that it failed to properly maintain a Cryovac vacuum packing machine, failed to plan sufficient inspections of the machine, and failed to address issues of corrosion on same.

As a consequence one of its employees "suffered personal injuries and died".

The Kildare Chilling Company also failed to plan sufficient inspections of the Cryovac vacuum packing machine and failed to address issues of corrosion on the machine.

It also failed to ensure that special inspections were carried out when exceptional circumstances arose in relation to work equipment which was exposed to conditions" causing deterioration liable to result in a danger to safety or health and which were liable to make the work equipment unsafe".

Kildare Chilling Company

It marked the second time Kildare Chilling Company has come before a court in relation to a fatal workplace incident.

In January 2022, the company was fined €400,000 at Naas Circuit Court following the death of an employee who was struck and crushed by a mobile forklift truck at its plant in February 2018.

Mark Cullen, chief executive of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), said a worker had "tragically lost his life in circumstances that should never occur in any workplace".

"Failure to do so exposes workers to unacceptable risks," the HSA CEO said.

He also added that the decision of the judge "highlights the serious consequences when these responsibilities are not met".