– Negligence leads a worker into the void
In 2014, a roofer almost died when he fell from the bridge where he was working. The Federal Court has just sentenced two managers of the general contractor concerned.
Published today at 7:31 p.m.
The case was judged by the Federal Court in Lausanne.
Odile Meylan
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Ten years ago, in the Lausanne region, a poorly secured scaffolding caused a worker to fall into the void. The Federal Court has just found the technical director and the works director of the general contractor concerned guilty of serious bodily injury through negligence. It confirms the judgment of the Cantonal Court condemning them respectively to 100 day fines of 100 francs and 50 day fines of 100 francs, suspended for two years.
In 2014, this roofer working on a site involving three buildings was on the top floor of the scaffolding, on the tinsmith’s bridge. The worker was putting wooden slats on the roof. He would have leaned on the side plinth of the decking to carry out his work. Due to the absence of a plinth fixing device and tray locking pull tabs, the entire structure had pivoted and tipped in the void, causing it to fall more than eight meters, causing damage. injuries which seriously endangered his life.
An incompetent team
The Supreme Court held that the technical director had to ensure that the team leader, whom he had himself appointed, and the workers of his company had correctly erected the scaffolding. His responsibility therefore lay in the choice of a competent team.
However, the investigation revealed that the scaffolding had not been erected correctly. The constructive height of the tinsmith’s bridge was not compliant. This prompted the worker to place his feet on the plinth in order to be better positioned to nail the slats. In addition, the trays had defects. In the eyes of the courts, the technical director did not adequately instruct his team during assembly. It had also proven to be incompetent since its leader was also convicted.
The judges consider that the Director of Works, responsible for monitoring the site, could not, for his part, evade his duty of supervision to guarantee the safety of the site. And that he could not invoke the sole responsibility of the company which had installed the defective scaffolding. The fact that the site inspector and the intercommunal control body had not made any comments before the accident did not exempt him from responsibility.
Concerning the defect of a locking pull, the Director of Works claimed to have corrected instabilities. However, an inspection of the Suva showed that anomalies linked to the connecting parts of the structure remained. A more in-depth check would have revealed the defect.
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Claude Beda is a journalist for the 24-hour Vaudois section. Passionate about social issues and the lives of people here, he covered several regions of the canton, before joining the Lausanne editorial team. More info
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