A company director has been fined €10,000 by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority for causing a worker's death. 

The 33-year-old employer from Mqabba was found guilty of breaching occupational health and safety regulations, leading to the foreign worker’s death in March 2014 on a construction site in Mosta.

The worker had fallen four storeys while cleaning concrete. He had not been wearing protective gear, such as a safety harness, through which the accident would have easily been avoided. The victim had also never been trained in occupational health and safety and had been left on his own.

Magistrate Nadine Lia found the director guilty of a number of shortcomings including not safeguarding his employees’ and anyone else’s health and safety. He failed to take preventive measures to avoid physical damage, accidents or deaths at the place of work.

The employer was also found guilty of not providing his workers with protective gear free of charge and training them in its use.

He failed to take protective measures to avoid falls from heights and to ensure that work in high places should only be carried out with special equipment or with the use of collective protection equipment.

When such equipment could not be used because of the nature of the work, safety harnesses or other anchorage methods had to be provided together with suitable methods of access.

The employer was also found guilty of not keeping the site clean and in a good state, the OHSA said.