A company has been ordered to pay over €73,000 in damages to its former employee, who fell from a height in a construction site in Paceville 11 years ago.
Charlot Zammit, a former helper at Buz-Dov Developments Limited sued the company for damages.
He had begun working for the company in April 2014 and had previously done the same work for a different contractor. Zammit would be sent to different construction sites and on July 3, 2014, he was sent to a construction site in Paceville.
The plaintiff and other workers were doing shuttering formwork, dismantling wood planks and placing them on a different storey. While Zammit was standing on a wooden plank, it broke and he fell from a height of about two metres. As a result, he sustained fractures in his left leg and ended up with a 17 percent permanent disability.
In his testimony it emerged that there were not enough wood planks and there were no harnesses at the site. Zammit testified that the management had to bring harnesses from elsewhere, but in the meantime the workers had to continue working. Another employee confirmed the lack of harnesses and insufficient amount of wood planks.
He was eventually terminated from the job in September 2015 after signing an agreement with the company that was terminating his job. The man struggled to find a job following the incident and due to the new physical limitations.
The company countered that the man had no further claims against it, since he had signed a termination agreement, however, the court dismissed the claim noting that suing for damages over the incident was independent from the man's termination.
The court, quoting previous judgements, reiterated that employers have a duty to provide a safe and secure environment for their employees and they also have a duty to monitor them to ensure that they are not exposed to situations that are conducive to an incident. Employees still have to observe health and safety rules.
The court observed that while the evidence on who was responsible for the incident was not abundant, it was sufficient for the court to understand that the man fell because he had been working on one not two wooden planks. While from the testimony of the company's director, Zammit should have been using two, the plaintiff could not do so due to a shortage of wooden planks. Moreover, Zammit said there were no harnesses on site.
The lack of harnesses and shortage of wooden planks contributed to the incident. While Zammit and another witness said that they were directed to continue with their job even in the absence of the necessary equipment, it did not emerge that the principal ordered that the works are halted until the harnesses and planks are provided.
The court deemed that the lack of such an order, despite being aware that they were lacking, meant that the company was responsible for the damages sustained by the plaintiff.
The court held that the principal's responsibility was not only to protect the health and safety of the employees by taking action on any risks but he is also responsible when he fails to act.
It ruled that the company was responsible for the incident in which Zammit hurt himself, as the works proceeded despite not having all the necessary health and safety equipment at the site.
The court then calculated the amount of damages due to the man, which totalled up to €73,171, plus legal interest due on that amount until it is paid.
Mr Justice Mark Simiana presided over the First Hall of the Civil Court.
Lawyers Michael Tanti Dougall and Jonathan Spiteri assisted Zammit.