The fire which caused the lives of 5 workers in the night of December 6 could have been avoided, according to the unions, who accused the multinational of having progressively neglected safety management in view of the pending closure of the Turin plant with excessive recourse to overtime (the victims had been at work for 12 hours when the accident happened). According to law 123 on safety approved last August (see our article n°070690), the responsibility of the firm could be evoked beyond cases of individual responsibility inasmuch as it is involved “when the author of the offence has acted in the interests of the company”, for example by lowering level of safety in order to reduce costs or increase production, as explained to the press by the prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello in charge of the enquiry. Furthermore, the national institute of insurance against work accidents (INAIL), the union Fiom-Cgil and the Piedmont Region have already taken court action in the forthcoming penal procedure. Again according to law 123, which provides for suspension of activity of a firm pending guarantees on conditions safety for the resumption of operations, activity at the Thyssenkrupp plant has been suspended. In addition, the prefecture of Terni, the town of the main ThyssenKrupp site in Italy, a protocol on safety along the lines of the one already applied at Ilva de Taranto (see our story n° 070849) is likely to be signed in early 2008 on the initiative of the Ministry of Health.
rupp plant has been suspended. In addition, the prefecture of Terni, the town of the main ThyssenKrupp site in Italy, a protocol on safety along the lines of the one already applied at Ilva de Taranto (see our story n° 070849) is likely to be signed in early 2008 on the initiative of the Ministry of Health.
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