Far too many companies in Spain ignore Health and Safety regulations as a matter of course. In fact, it's common throughout the country to see people (often illegal immigrants) working on building sites with absolutely no safety gear whatsoever. Of the six workers in the photo above, only one is wearing a hard hat and work boots.
Now the owners of a bakery in the town of Real de GandÃa near Valencia face 6 to 10 years in prison for employing an illegal Bolivian immigrant - Frans Rilles Melgar - and allowing him to use a dough kneading machine without adequate safety measures.
The machine ripped his left arm off.
The owners of the bakery - the Rovira brothers - were met outside the court by a crowd of journalists as they arrived on Thursday morning to face charges of illegal employment, health and safety, and injury.
It’s a case which has received extensive coverage in the Spanish press.
There are claims that the injured man was dropped 200 metres from the hospital and told to say nothing about his employment situation.
It was also revealed that the arm he lost was found to be too badly damaged to be reattached after his bosses threw it out with the rubbish.
In addition to the injured man having worked at the bakery for almost two years earning 700 Euros a month for 12-hour shifts, an inspector’s report also found serious safety and hygiene deficiencies on the premises.
Another six staff were also working in the same bakery without being registered with Social Security.
The injured immigrant was granted residence papers by the government last Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment