Director and Manager Found Guilty of Health & Safety Breaches

A recent Circuit Court decision underscores the increasing personal liability risks for directors and managers under Irish health and safety law. Serious penalties highlight the importance of proactive compliance, thorough risk assessments, and robust safety measures. Read our expert insight from our Health & Safety team to understand your obligations and safeguard your organisation from similar risks.

All employers owe duties to their employees to ensure their health and safety in the workplace, insofar as is reasonably practicable. Many employers are companies having their own legal personality. However, under Irish health and safety legislation, directors and senior management of companies may be held personally liable for breaches of certain provisions of Irish health and safety legislation. An example of this was recently seen in the Circuit Court. Criminal proceedings were brought against Shay Murtagh (Pre-Cast) Limited and its director, Mr Murtagh, and health and safety manager, Mr Whyte.

Factual background

In the Shay Murtagh case, the company was upgrading the electrical installation at its manufacturing facility in May 2022. Two of its employees were installing new electrical cables across the top of a roof of a maintenance shed. One of the employees stepped on, and fell through, a fragile roof light. The roof light was partially camouflaged by dust and debris. The employee fell over seven metres to the concrete floor below. He survived the fall but suffered serious injuries.

The company, company director, and the company’s health and safety manager were all charged. The charges related to breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, as amended (the 2005 Act). Essentially, it was alleged that they each failed to take adequate precautions. They were also accused of not ensuring a safe system of work was in place. This included failing to prevent persons working on the roof from being exposed to inadequate edge protection and fragile roof lights.

Prosecution of the director

Both the company and the company director were charged with breaches of section 8(2)(e) of the 2005 Act. In the case of the company, the breach was alleged to violate section 77(9) of the 2005 Act. In the case of the company director, the breach was alleged to be in breach of section 77(9) and section 80 of the 2005 Act.

Section 8(1) requires “every employer” to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of their employees. Section 8(2)(e) builds on this general requirement. It specifies that employers must provide systems of work that are:

“Planned, organised, performed, maintained and revised as appropriate so as to be, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health”.

An employer is deemed to have committed an offence under section 77(9)(a) if a person suffers any personal injury as a consequence of the employer breaching section 8. This simply means than an employer commits an offence if:

• The employer breaches the duty it owes to its employees under section 8, and
• This breach results in injury to the employee

However, section 80 provides that, where a company commits this type of offence, its director, manager, or other similar officer may also be guilty of the same offence.

The test to establish whether a director, etc is guilty of such an offence is this – was the act or thing that constituted the offence authorised by, or consented to by, or attributable to connivance or neglect on the part of the director, manager, etc? In the Shay Murtagh case, the company director pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him. Therefore, there was no need for the prosecutor in that case to establish that this test had been met.

Prosecution of the health and safety manager

In this case, the company’s health and safety manager was prosecuted violating section 14(b) of the 2005 Act, as outlined in section 77(2) of the 2005 Act.

Section 14(b) provides that:

“A person shall not intentionally, recklessly or without reasonable cause, place at risk the safety, health or welfare of persons in connection with work activities”.

It should be noted that section 14(b) refers to “a person” whereas the obligation under section 8 is on “every employer”.

A person is considered to have committed an offence under section 77(2)(b) if they violate section 14 of the 2005 Act. For this reason, the charges were able to be brought against the health and safety manager under sections 14 and 77(2), without the prosecutor having to invoke section 80.

The company’s health and safety manager pleaded guilty to an offence under section 77(2) for having breached his duty under section 14.

Penalties

Having each pleaded guilty to the charge brought against them, the company was fined €125,000 and ordered to pay costs of €6,000. The company director and health and safety manager each had the Probation Act applied to them

Conclusion

There is an increasing trend in company directors and senior management being held personally liable for breaches of health and safety legislation. It is critical that persons at all levels within an organisation are aware of their health and safety duties and obligations. This applies to organisations of any size. It is equally important that they follow clear and well-established procedures.

The Health and Safety Authority highlighted an important point following the Shay Murtagh case. Employers must manage and conduct work activities at the workplace carefully. This is essential to ensure the safety, health and welfare of all employees. Risk assessments should be carried out before commencing any work, especially work with inherent risks like working at height.

For more information, please contact a member of our Planning & Environment team.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.