Four directors of a quarry have been found not guilty of having, through negligence or lack of observance of regulations, caused the death of a worker when a truck overturned.

The incident happned on January 4, 2008 in a quarry in Wied iz-Ziju, Marsascala when a truck being driven by labourer Jesmond Vella overturned and crashed down a pile of rocks. He was trapped in the wreckage and died on the spot.

The directors, Lawrence Saliba, Salvinu Saliba, Lawrence Saliba and Kristian Saliba were accused of having caused the incident through negligence and lack of observance of regulations including health and safety rules.

The court heard that the truck was loaded with stones that were  being taken to a crusher. It was being reversed right to the edge of a pile of material for dumping when a section of the ground collapsed and the truck overturned and crashed down.

The court heard evidence that  the way how dumping should have been made was for the trucks to carry the material to the pile on the side where it was compacted. The material was then to be unloaded from the trucks  and pushed down the pile by an earth mover.

However that was not the procedure which had been followed by Jesmond Vella. Instead of dumping the material so that it could be pushed down by the earth mover, he reversed the truck to the edge so that it could be tipped over. He drove to the edge and the truck overturned and fell down.

The court concluded that the incident was not the result of negligence by the directors. It said the directors had carried out risk assessments. The site had been subjected to official inspections and recommendations had been implemented.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080105/local/worker-dies-in-quarry.178871