A 28-year-old man who suffered a 33 percent permanent disability while carrying out works at Mater Dei Hospital has been awarded almost €125,000 in compensation by the First Hall of the Civil Court.

Ronnie Grima filed his writ against his employer Enemalta Corporation and against Enemalta's contractor White Brothers Ltd and its sub-contractor Polidano Service Station and Plant Hire Limited.

White Brothers Ltd had been engaged by Enemalta to transport a transformer from the Power Station to the hospital. The transformer had to be placed on site under the supervision of Enemalta. Mr Grima and other Enemalta employees were entrusted with this work. At one stage when the transformer was almost ready to be put in place, one of the crane's cables snapped and seriously injured one of Mr Grima's arms. The crane had been hired from Polidano and was being operated by White Brothers' employees.

The court observed that White Brothers were responsible to ensure that the transportation of the transformer to Mater Dei hospital took place without endangering the workers present. It resulted that when White brothers had appointed Polidano as its subcontractor the company had not verified the condition and certification of the crane. At the time of the accident the crane had not been certified to be fit for use and the crane's cable had snapped due to wear and tear.

The court therefore found both White Brothers and Polidano responsible for the accident in the proportion of one third and two-thirds respectively. Both companies were ordered to pay a total of €124,528.30 to Mr Grima by way of damages.