A man who sustained extensive burn and blast injuries in an industrial accident at the Stryker plant in Carrigtwohill, Co Cork in April has died in hospital.
It is understood that employees of Stryker in Cork were informed of the death of John Murphy (41) this morning. In their staff briefing Stryker described Mr Murphy “as a friend to many and a valued colleague”. They offered their heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased.
The incident occurred at the medical equipment manufacturer at 1.09pm on April 18th. Two men suffered burns while working on the roof when a small explosion occurred.
Three units of the Cork County Fire Service attended at the scene alongside the emergency services and members of Stryker’s trained fire fighting force. Gardaí also attended the scene after receiving a 999 call.
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The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is continuing to investigate the incident. It is understood that workers were evacuated from the building after the explosion. An inquest is expected to be heard later this year.
Stryker, which employs about 4,000 at six locations in Cork, established a base in Cork in 1998. The US multinational medical company was named Cork company of the year in February.
Following the accident Stryker issued a statement expressing its commitment to a “safe and healthy work environment at all of their facilities”. The company is working closely with the authorities to investigate the incident.
Siptu, which represents some of the workers at the company, offered its condolences to the family of Mr Murphy but criticised the management of the plant for what it said was a failure to engage on safety over a number of years.
“While the circumstances of this tragedy have yet to be fully explained, as we await the outcome of an investigation by the Health and Safety Authority [but] Siptu representatives have on a number of occasions sought discussions with the management of the Stryker plant in Carrigtwohill,” said union organiser Allen Dillon.
“Our members at the plant began raising health and safety concerns in 2019 and union representatives have been seeking engagement with management on these matters since then.”
Two years ago the Irish Examiner reported that six Stryker workers from three sites in east Cork made a protected disclosure to the HSA in 2020 listing what they claimed were a series of safety concerns.