The trial of the owner of a construction company and the foreman, who are responsible for failing to fulfill their duties and unintentionally causing the death of a 17-year-old, has started before the Lublin-Zachód District Court. The boy, together with his friend, worked on a construction site to earn extra money for the holidays. He died crushed by a wall.
The tragic accident occurred in July last year during the reconstruction of one of the hotels in the center of Lublin. One of the walls collapsed on the 17-year-old while it was being demolished. His life could not be saved.
The owner of a construction company, Stanisław K., and the Ukrainian foreman, Kshyshtof Cz., were accused of unintentional manslaughter. At the first hearing on Tuesday (November 19), they pleaded not guilty.
Tragic accident at a construction site, a 17-year-old died (July 2023)KMP Lublin
The foreman testified that he did not order them to demolish the walls
They provided explanations in which they both emphasized that their company was responsible for carrying out reinforcement and carpentry work, but was not involved in demolishing walls and was not authorized to do so.
The 17-year-old and his friend were employed by the accused Stanisław K. for cleaning and auxiliary work – such as bringing materials and tools – and cleaning.
The foreman, who was at the construction site on the day of the accident, testified that he did not commission the boys to demolish the walls. He was also not a direct witness of the accident.
Both defendants also emphasized that another company, which was the general contractor, was responsible for training the boys in occupational health and safety at the construction site and for distributing the work.
The court set the next date for hearing the case on January 14, and witness hearings were scheduled then.
Prosecutor's office: they decided to cut the wall in half and then push its lower part
According to the indictment, the 17-year-old and his friend wanted to earn extra money during the holidays. They found a construction job offer on a social networking site. At the end of June 2023, they were hired on a contract basis. Due to their age, written consent from their parents was needed. Their duties included cleaning the workplace and assisting with the demolition of the facility.
According to investigators, on July 25, the boys decided to try to demolish one of the internal partition walls of the hotel building, and the foreman agreed, instructed them on how to do it, and then went downstairs for a moment. No one was to supervise their work.
“The victims had difficulty demolishing the wall, so they decided to cut it in half and then push its lower part. Then the upper part of the wall collapsed, crushing one of the boys. The other was pushed by the beam and fell next to the collapsed wall” – described in the act accusations.
According to the prosecutor's office, the defendants did not provide effective supervision
Despite resuscitation, the 17-year-old's life could not be saved. The autopsy showed that the cause of his death was extensive injuries to the chest organs. The expert assessed that they could have been caused by an impact and being crushed by a heavy weight, e.g. a collapsed fragment of a wall.
According to investigators, both the employer and the foreman failed to fulfill their duties and violated occupational health and safety rules. According to the prosecutor's office, they allowed juvenile workers to perform heavy demolition work that was prohibited for them and did not provide them with effective supervision, which led to an accident in which the teenager died.
The accused men have not been punished so far. Manslaughter is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Main photo source: KMP Lublin