The accident occurred in November 2021 when a sheet metal worker fell ten meters from a roof and was seriously injured.
During the court proceedings in Kristianstad District Court, questions were raised about the sheet metal worker’s own responsibility.
The day before the accident, the company’s safety representative had visited the construction site and stated that the sheet metal worker and his colleagues had to use personal fall protection equipment when working on the roof.
However, no protective equipment was ever used, even though the sheet metal worker explained to the safety representative that it would be collected the next day, according to the verdict.
The fact that the responsibility falls on the employer, and not the employee, explains the district court partly because the protective equipment was not a sufficient safety measure for the work that was carried out, and partly because the employees had not received training in the equipment.
The court also notes that safety at a workplace is always the employer’s responsibility.