A man injured in an accident at the Freeport in 2000 was yesterday awarded over Lm8,000 damages by Mr Justice Tonio Mallia sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court.

Alfred Pace said he was injured on May 26 2000, while working at the Freeport for his employer MJK Transport Ltd. His right hand had been crushed by the pump of a side loader and he asked the court to condemn his employer to make good for damages he had sustained.

MJK Transport Ltd pleaded that it had not been responsible for the accident in which Mr Pace had allegedly been injured.

The court heard that Mr Pace was a stevedore and used to transport containers from the port or Freeport to the destinations indicated by his employer. On the day of the accident he was working at the Freeport and he was to load a container onto a trailer and then drive it to the terminal. A 40-foot vehicle known as a side loader equipped with two cranes was used for this purpose.

One of the company's directors, Charles Cassar, was operating the cranes by remote control. The cranes were lowered to the ground while Mr Pace and Mr Cassar secured the container to the crane manually. Mr Cassar then operated the cranes to raise the container onto the trailer.

While this stage of the process was being carried out, Mr Cassar could not see Mr Pace but when he came to fold the cranes in place he heard Mr Pace shouting and saw his right hand on the spot where the cranes' support rested. It resulted that Mr Pace's right hand had been caught by a nail on the crane's hydraulic pump of the crane. It also resulted that Mr Pace had not been provided with safety equipment and that none of the company's employees were provided with such equipment at that time.

Mr Justice Tonio Mallia found that the company was, to some extent, responsible for the accident for it had failed to provide health and safety equipment for its employees.

The court further found that Mr Cassar had been negligent when he had operated the cranes because Mr Pace was out of his sight and he had lowered the cranes without checking where Mr Pace was.

No one, the court noted, ought to operate machinery without being able to see whether there was anyone in the vicinity and Mr Cassar was working "blindly".

The court further noted that the cranes were not provided with guards and it was possible for any workman to place his hands where the cranes where being operated.

Mr Justice Mallia added that Mr Pace had been slightly negligent when he had placed his hand close to the crane before the operations had stopped and he had therefore to bear some responsibility for his injury.

The court concluded that the company was two-thirds responsible for Mr Pace's injury and Mr Pace was liable for one-third.

The court ordered the company to pay Mr Pace Lm8,528 damages.

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