- The public prosecutor has imposed a 60,000 euro fine on a Vught construction firm after a fatal accident. Op 3 February 2020 a 35-year old Ukrainian builder died on a construction site in Eindhoven. Contractor Hazenberg Bouw took insufficient safety precautions to prevent the fatal accident.
The victim
The victim was working on a construction project in the Vredenoord district when things went wrong. The man was busy fitting insulation material when a concrete cladding panel came down and landed on top of him.
This could only happen because the braces which normally secure the façades and inner walls of houses under construction had been prematurely removed due to miscommunication. This caused the façade panel to come loose, which then fell down five metres crushing the man who was at work there.
Work assigned
Besides, the victim, who was not officially in the employ of the firm in Vught, should never have been assigned the task of fitting the insulation material. He did not have the required skills and had not been instructed properly. To make matters even worse, the work was being carried out without adequate supervision. According to the public prosecutor, the firm should have known this potentially put workers in mortal danger. The 35-year old construction worker paid for their negligence with his life.
Next of kin
After consultation with his next of kin, who live abroad, the case was not taken to court. Instead, the public prosecutor ruled that the construction firm must pay a fine, because they were culpable for the man’s death.
The Public Prosecutor took into account that the firm had not had an earlier run-in with the law. Moreover, the firm fully cooperated with the criminal investigation and also investigated the case themselves. The firm has subsequently improved their safety measures and offered financial support to the worker’s next of kin.
Source:Studio040
Translator: Greta
