A diary farmer based in County Armagh has been fined for breaching health and safety rules, which led to a teenager being seriously injured while working with farming machinery.
David Murphy was fined £1,000 for the health and safety breach following an incident in June 2015, according to a report by the Belfast Telegraph.
If your business employs people to work around dangerous machinery, it is your responsibility to ensure their safety. As well as good health and safety policies, your business should also consider employers’ liability insurance in addition to the required general business insurance.
The teenage worker was seriously injured while working at Mr Murphy’s farm in Killylea, County Armagh. The young worker was erecting a fence when the incident occurred. According to the court report, a silage buckrake fell from the front end of a telescopic material handler machine, which caused one of the prongs of the silage buckrake to impale the left leg of the young employee.
The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) investigated the incident and chose to prosecute Mr Murphy as a result.
Kevin Campbell, an inspector with HSENI’s major investigation team, commented on the case after sentencing: “Farmers must ensure that proper systems are in place to prevent employees being injured. In addition, the correct equipment must be used and be maintained in good working order.
"Any misuse of equipment, or the wrong choice of machinery has the potential for things to go wrong, resulting in serious injury, as was the case in this totally preventable accident.”
