The heirs of a port worker who died following an occupational accident have been awarded more than €776,000 in damages.
Heirs of George Abela filed their action for damages against Valletta Gateway Terminals Ltd (VGT) and the owners of the vessel Jolly Blu.
The heirs told the court, presided over by Mr Justice Silvio Meli, that Mr Abela was crushed by a container while working for VGT on board the ship, which was berthed at Laboratory Wharf, Marsa, in February 2008.
He succumbed to his injuries later that month. According to the heirs, Mr Abela's death was caused by negligence on the part of defendants, who had failed to provide him with a safe system of work.
Both VGT and the ship owners contested the heirs' claims.
Mr Justice Meli heard that Mr Abela's job consisted in untying containers unloaded from the ship onto the wharf. They would then be placed onto a low trailer by means of a forklift.
None of the workers were provided with masks to protect them from diesel fumes. They also had no high visibility vests or hard hats.
In this case, as the forklift was large there were no safety passageways which the workers could use, so they were forced to move behind the container. Mr Abela was crushed by a container which was hit by the forklift and which fell upon him.
In his judgment Mr Justice Meli said that no qualified health and safety officer was present on site. The fumes emitted from the forklift had impaired the workers' visibility and the forklift operator did not have an assistant to guide him through the fumes.
An employer, said the court, was obliged to provide employees with a safe system of work and had also to take into account the fact that employees became careless in tasks involved in their daily routine work.
In this case, the court found both VGT and the ship owners guilty of gross negligence as they had made a job which was inherently dangerous more dangerous by not providing safety measures.
The court ordered both defendants to pay a total of €776,729.53 to the heirs by way of damages.
The heirs were represented by lawyer Robert Abela.