Inquiries into death of worker at Nenagh plant

INVESTIGATIONS ARE under way into the death of a worker at the Procter and Gamble pharmaceutical plant in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, on Saturday morning.

The Health and Safety Authority and local gardaí are investigating the death of a 57-year-old employee from Puckane, a village about five miles from Nenagh.

The man, who has been named locally as Martin Healy, a mechanical fitter with the pharmaceutical firm in the Gortlandroe Industrial Estate, died just hours after being caught up in machinery at the plant. Mr Healy, who was well known in the community and was a former hurler with Kildangan GAA club, was working on a large piece of equipment when he became entangled in a machine.

The accident happened at about 9.50am and fellow members of the staff raised the alarm immediately.

Emergency services took Mr Healy to Nenagh hospital where he was treated for serious head injuries.

Management at the factory, which is to shed 230 jobs by next year, closed the plant following the incident and colleagues were informed of Mr Healy's death.

As the death is being treated as a work-related accident, the Health and Safety Authority are also conducting their own investigation.

Colleagues of Mr Healy and the close-knit rural community of Puckane where Mr Healy lived with his family are reported to be extremely shocked at the sudden death.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times