Contractor fined £110k after falling stone killed man

A quarrying and construction firm has been fined £110,000 after the death of a subcontractor.

FP McCann Limited pleaded guilty to a single health and safety offence and received the fine at Antrim Crown Court on Friday.

The investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) commenced following the death of William Houston.

William died in hospital after a large stone fell and hit him at FP McCann's Loughside Quarry in Larne, County Antrim on 23 April 2023.

What happened to William Houston?

The court heard that the day William died, he was driving a dumper truck, removing stone from the cone crushing plant and placing it into stockpiles.

A blockage was reported at the cone crushing plant about lunch time.

The plant was isolated because a large stone, weighing approximately seven stones (45kg) was causing the blockage.

The stone was manually removed from the crusher and carried to a raised conveyor catwalk, approximately 15ft (4.5m) from ground level.

While being moved, the stone fell through the railings of the raised conveyor catwalk and struck William as he was walking below.

He later died in hospital due to injuries sustained.

Sophie Pearson from the HSENI said the death was a "tragic incident".

"Employers must take adequate measures to prevent materials or objects falling from height," she said.

"They must stop and consider what risks are involved in the task and take the necessary action, so that harm does not occur to employees or as in this tragic incident, to someone like Mr Houston who was subcontracted to work at the site," she said.

Pearson added that a "simple solution such as an exclusion zone" should be implemented if a falling object is not preventable.