Failure to Adopt the Model: accidents at work and the authority’s responsibility (Newsletter Norme & Tributi n. 136– Camera di Commercio Italo-Germanica – Vittorio De Luca, Elena Cannone)

The Court of Cassation, Fourth Criminal Section, with sentence 35934 of last 09 August, declared a company responsible for the crime of serious injury with violation of safety rules at work. This is because it had not adopted an Organisational Model for health and safety at work suited to prevent the commission of such an offence. In this case, a worker (who was not legally employed), lost their balance while dismantling a beam from the stage where a musical event had been held, falling from a height of about two meters. The fall caused temporary and permanent injuries to the worker. The Court of Cassation, in confirming its decision on the matter, and in addition to declaring the legal representative of the company guilty of the crime of negligent injury, imposed a fine of 100 instalments for a total amount of €30,000 and banned the company from conducting business for a period of one month, resulting in further damage to both assets and image. In consideration of the above, it is advisable for each authority to adopt and implement an Organisational Model suited to prevent culpable serious injuries caused by the violation of accident-prevention measures. This is in order to avoid the automatic triggering of liability at the time of the offence with costly legal consequences.