An Irish company has been fined GBP75,000 (USD94,700) by the Downpatrick Crown Court over the workplace death of a man crushed by a piece of heavy equipment being moved by a forklift, the BBC reports.

Crossgar-based David Henderson Food Machinery Limited was fined for healthy and safety breaches which resulted in the death of an employee, 66-year-old truck driver Stephen Karl Casement, in 2018.

Judge Geoffrey Miller KC described the death as “an utterly avoidable tragedy”.

A report by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and local authorities found 16 areas of failure by the company.

The court heard a colleague of Casement was attempting to move a tote bin hoist using a forklift.

Casement, who had been leaving work to go home, was asked to help and during this operation the hoist toppled and crushed him as he tried to hold it steady.

The great-grandfather, grandfather and father-of-six died from his injuries later in hospital.

Meanwhile in Canada, a 61-year-old Saskatoon man was taken to hospital from an Air Liquide site with serious injuries after being struck by a forklift, CTV News reports.

Police were told an employee had struck another employee with a forklift, causing serious but non-life-threatening injuries.