An inquest into a fatal accident at a quarry in Dublin five years ago heard it was operating without any illumination while work was being conducted outside daylight hours in breach of health and safety legislation.
Christopher Miley (30), a father of three from Carrigacurra, Valleymount, Co Wicklow, was struck and crushed to death by a loader shovel machine at Behan Quarry, Windmill Hill, Rathcoole, Co Dublin around 6.45am on October 28th, 2021.
Miley, who was working as a driver for fuel distributor Euro Oil, was loading fuel into another machine operated by Shannon Valley Plant Hire at the quarry at the time.
A postmortem showed he died as a result of traumatic musculoskeletal and multi-organ injuries.
An inquest into Miley’s death at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Wednesday heard that a sensor on the loader shovel machine which was reversing at the time of the fatal incident had a blind spot.
An inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, Manus Tiernan, said the failure of the sensor to pick up Miley was “the question we keep asking.”
Tiernan said it was possible that the driver may have slipped as the weather at the time was wet with slippy, muddy conditions on the ground which meant he was not picked up by the sensor
However, he added: “We’ll never know the exact scenario.”
The inquest also heard that the deceased and other workers at the quarry were not wearing high-visibility jackets while working in the dark.
Tiernan said Shannon Valley Plant Hire has a general risk assessment for refuelling and illumination of the quarry outside daylight hours which were not implemented.
He said plant and machinery had not been switched off while refuelling was taking place.
An inspection of the Hitachi loader shovel found it was in working order with some defects.
The inspector said the HSA had taken enforcement action with the quarry only allowed to operate again after issues relating to illumination and refuelling were implemented.
Tiernan said Miley had changed the sequence of his normal routine for refuelling different plant machinery at the quarry on the day.
In a written statement, the driver of the loader shovel, Fergal Davidson, said he heard a bump as he was reversing the vehicle after loading aggregate onto a lorry.
Davidson said conditions were wet and very dark at the time with poor visibility, while he claimed there was also a problem with one light at the back of his vehicle.
Another quarry worker, Cathal Smyth, gave evidence of being alerted by Davidson to what happened and described finding Miley lying on his back with what appeared to be a wound to his lower limbs.
A site supervisor for Shannon Valley Plant Hire, Camillus O’Neill, told the inquest how he performed CPR on the victim until the emergency services arrived.
In reply to questions from coroner Myra Cullinane, O’Neill said everything had been working as normal that morning.
Asked about illumination at the quarry, he claimed they were told lighting would be put up by its owners but it did not happen.
O’Neill claimed everyone working at the quarry had been wearing a high-visibility jacket and a hard hat.
The inquest heard the quarry is still operational but Shannon Valley Plant Hire are no longer subcontracted to work there.
A paramedic, Ed Walsh, said he pronounced Miley dead at the scene at 8.08am after determining he had sustained injuries which were incompatible with life.
The inquest heard that Dublin Criminal Circuit Court handed down total fines of €650,000 in March 2024 to two companies who pleaded guilty to a number of offences under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 in relation to Miley’s death.
Shannon Valley Plant Hire Limited was fined €600,000 plus costs, while Behan Aggregates and Recycling Limited was fined €50,000 plus costs.
A jury of seven women and two men recorded a verdict of death due to an industrial accident.
The jury said it also reiterated the issues highlighted by the HSA inspector in relation to illumination of the quarry and the refuelling of plant machinery.
Offering her deepest condolences to Miley’s family on “the tragic loss of a young man,” Dr Cullinane said it was probably cold comfort to them that she did not think he would have suffered as he would have been “completely unconscious almost immediately.”
In July 2025, the High Court approved a settlement of €185,000 in a personal injury action taken by the deceased’s partner, Shelly Keating, on behalf of the couple’s three children against five defendants including Shannon Valley Plant Hire and the quarry’s owners.
No liability was admitted by any defendant in the proceedings.
The court heard the couple had been together for nine years and had planned to marry after building a family home on land owned by Miley’s parents, for which they had obtained planning permission a short time before his death.