Courts

Thorntons Recycling fined €60,000 over death of employee

Company admits refuse collection vehicle was defective and unsafe at time of Tomasz Orzel’s death

A representative from Thorntons Recycling, with a registered office on Henry Road, Park West Business Park, Dublin 12, pleaded guilty on behalf of the company. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien
A representative from Thorntons Recycling, with a registered office on Henry Road, Park West Business Park, Dublin 12, pleaded guilty on behalf of the company. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien
Sonya McLean
Mon Apr 08 2024 - 18:33

A recycling company has been fined €60,000 for breaches of health and safety following the death of an employee in Dublin four years ago.

Padraig Thornton Waste Disposal Limited, trading as Thorntons Recycling, admitted that a refuse collection vehicle that was collecting recycling wheelie bins in Dún An Óir estate at Old Bawn, Tallaght was defective and unsafe on March 19th, 2020.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Tomasz Orzel, who worked for Thorntons Recycling at the time, died after he was struck by the truck while he and a colleague were collecting the wheelie bins for the vehicle that morning.

The court heardthe vehicle in question had defects, in that platforms, known as footboards, which workers stand on while the vehicle was collecting bins, were in bad condition.

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Subsequent analysis of the vehicle also found that a proximity sensor switch, a safety feature which prevents the vehicle from reversing and travelling at speeds in excess of 30km/h while these footboards are down and in use, was defective and had been interfered with.

A representative from Thorntons Recycling, with a registered office on Henry Road, Park West Business Park, Dublin 12, pleaded guilty on behalf of the company.