A CO TYRONE building firm has been fined £50,000 after a worker died on site in Derry.
Philip Fenwick (35) died in Altnagelvin Hospital on November 7 2014 after being injured in an accident in Culmore the previous day.
Mid Ulster Contracts Ltd of Coolmaghry Road in Dungannon was fined after it pleaded guilty to failing to protect employees and non-employees, failing to plan operations and the use of safety equipment.
Mr Fenwick's family wept in court as details of his death were read out.
The court heard that on November 6 workers were lifting asymmetrical roof trusses onto the roof of a nursing home.
While no one saw the accident, it is thought that a truss that the foreman had left temporarily suspended on a crane swung and hit Mr Fenwick. The same truss also narrowly missed hitting the foreman.
The court heard that due to the asymmetrical nature of the trusses special steps should have been taken to ensure they were stable when being lifted.
Experts later found no specific risk assessment had been done, the foreman operating the crane had not been properly trained and a home-made device had been attached to the trusses to allow the crane to lift them.
The managing director of the company alleged he had told the men to work inside because it was a windy day but the workers said they did not receive this instruction.
None of the workmen were wearing hard hats even though they were available but the court was also told that a hat would not have saved Mr Fenwick.
Judge Gemma Loughran said it was "a tragic case where a much loved man lost his life".
She read excerpts from victim impact reports from Mr Fenwick's sister, niece and grandmother all of whom said the void left by his death would never be filled.
Meanwhile, a building contractor has been given a 15-month suspended sentence and fined £3,000 after a worker fell to his death from a shed roof in Co Armagh.
Petyo Hristanov died after he fell from a partially-built farm shed along with workmate Millen Dimov in January 2015.
Mr Dimov suffered minor injuries.
Contractor Norman McKenzie, of Drumgose Road, Dungannon, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Craigavon Crown Court. He was given a suspended sentence and fined £3,000.
Ivan Reilly, a farmer from Derrycarne Road, Portadown, who hired McKenzie, was fined £1,500.
Mr Hristanov and Mr Dimov, both from Bulgaria, were employed by McKenzie, who was on site at the time of the accident.
The court heard that neither Mr Hristanov nor Mr Dimov were given any safety apparatus and that McKenzie did not carry out a risk assessment or briefing.
Rain on the day of the accident made working conditions more dangerous.
The court was told that Mr Hristanov began to slide feet first from the roof and screamed for help. Mr Dimov grabbed his arm but both men fell to the ground.
Mr Hristanov's daughter Zoya Lewis, who travelled from Bulgaria to hear the verdict, said her father "went to work and never came back".
"I don't wish that to happen to any other family, so please do what you had to do and get everything safe for people who work out there," she said.
