English company fined for industrial incident in Omagh

By Richard O'Reilly

An English Company has been fined six thousand pounds at Dungannon Crown Court today for a Health and Safety breach

Bristol-based Vertase FLI Ltd. also had to pay costs of over one thousand pounds.

The sentencing was the result of a workplace incident in Omagh in May 2017.  An employee sustained serious injuries after being struck by a roll of 'lining membrane'.

Vertase FLI limited was contracted to work at a mining site in the Gortin area of Co Tyrone, which involved welding large rolls of lining membrane together on reclaimed land.  

The incident occurred when workers were tasked with unloading a delivery of the geotechnical lining membrane from a curtain sided lorry.

The rolls which weighed almost half a tonne, had been transported on curtain-sided trailers and had become unstable in transit. The court found Vertase did not put sufficient measures in place to stabilize them before offloading.

Anne Cassidy who is a Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) spoke at the hearing.  "The dangers of a load moving in transit are well recognised" said Anne "Employers must ensure that all lifting operations are carried out without risk to those in the area."