He loses his thumb at work, the employer fined 16,000 euros in Monaco
Thumb severed by a machine on a construction site
Manager and establishment were then implicated in a work accident.
More specifically, an employee had used unsuitable equipment, a circular saw in this case, on a construction site located on the Rock, rue Princesse-Marie-de-Lorraine. He had had his left thumb severed while operating this fast rotating machine.
Following this unforeseen event and the concerted decision of the judges, the employer, as a natural person, was sentenced to a fine of 8,000 euros.
No protection or training for the worker
Its responsibility is recognized by the provision of the serrated blade tool without protective and guiding device. As for the company, as a legal person, it was penalized with the same penalty for failing to provide practical and appropriate training in matters of safety, risk assessment and prevention.
At the hearing, the victim reported the consequences of this accident. Transported to the CHPG on July 15, 2020, then to the Pasteur hospital in Nice, he had to wait more than two and a half months to resume activity.
Certainly, any construction site remains a place where accidents have proven to be frequent. But in this case, it was serious injuries resulting in seventy-five days of incapacity for work.
During the investigation, President Jérôme Fougeras Lavergnolle had cited witness proposals which evoked “missing parts, added, tinkered”.
“Responsible but not guilty”
On the side of the LLC, the boss was not too inclined to hear himself reproached for a fault of imprudence, negligence, such as a breach of a security obligation provided for by law. Above all, he didn’t want to wear the hat alone.
“I regret what happened, declare at the bar. I’m responsible. But as I am pleading for release, I do not consider myself guilty.” A volley of reproaches by the civil party followed, with a mention of the shortcomings: protective frame, knife of the viewfinder, lack of training, tinkering guidance system.
Me Olivia Chalus, of the Nice Bar, demanded an expertise and the total sum of 17,500 euros. But his requests will be deemed inadmissible by the judges because it is, let us remember, a work accident.
It was however required by the first substitute Valérie Sagné, 4,000 euros fine for the defendant and 12,000 euros for the SARL in order to sanction the breaches of essential professional obligations.
And the astonishment of the floor worker at the behavior of the floor worker. Because the fault does not seem to understand at the level of this entrepreneur, with risks of a particular gravity that he could not ignore.
Or, if he does not understand, assures Me Bernard Bensa at the hearing, his client apologizes. “Prevention must work for the victim as well as for the employer. On a personal level, he can be acquitted and the company condemned. The civil party will be compensated in the context of the work accident.” The court decided otherwise.