BARI – The Court of Bari has acquitted the Frigopuglia company of Bari at the end of the trial on an accident at work which in October 2015 caused personal injuries to a worker, aged 55 at the time, due to “acute intoxication from ammonia vapours” .
The company was charged with the administrative liability of entities while the owner, who later died, was liable for personal injuries.
The story dates back to 16 October 2015. The worker was engaged in maintenance operations on a faulty valve, positioned on the pipes of a refrigeration system and placed at a height of over 5 meters from the ground. Suddenly he was hit by a jet of ammonia vapor escaping from the valve, leaving him intoxicated. According to the accusation, the safety and accident prevention regulations which provide for the obligation to use personal protective equipment, such as masks with filters suited to the type of risk, were not respected. Furthermore, according to the charges, “technical and organizational measures suitable for minimizing the risks associated with the use of forklifts which are unsuitable for lifting people” were not adopted.
The Court ruled that the employer should not proceed because he was deceased. For the company, however, assisted by the lawyer Antonio La Scala, the judges declared the accusations to be inexistent.
«After a long and detailed investigation, – says the lawyer – the Court acquitted the well-known Bari company because no judgment of liability can be attributed to it as no violation was committed precisely due to rigorous compliance with the rules on accident prevention and job security”.
