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An assistant mechanic at a car workshop was killed instantly when a wheel he was filling up with air exploded in his face, the High Criminal Court heard.
Although the victim was performing a task in April he was neither permitted, nor asked to do, as he was not trained for it, a supervisor at the garage was found guilty of negligence over his death.
A Bahraini defendant was sentenced to three months in prison on charges of committing a mistake that resulted in the death of a labourer working under him.
A medical examiner, who accompanied the forensic crew, recounted witnessing the victim lying on the ground, covered in blood, with the ‘large hole in his forehead and the inner contents of his brain visible’.
“He suffered from lacerations and tissue loss, along with fractures in his skull and the orbital region. Blood was spilling out of his head. He also sustained injuries in his hand and knee,” she added.
A Labour Ministry report and a mechanic at the garage both stated that the victim disobeyed orders by filling up the tyre, despite not being qualified to operate the machinery involved.
The Bangladeshi mechanic, who was at the scene of the tragic accident, testified that he heard a sudden noise and then saw the still body of Mr (Zain) Waheed on the floor, ‘with blood everywhere’.
“We were working on changing the punctured tyre of a digging vehicle. We replaced the wheel but I told the victim not to fill it up with air. Such work isn’t his speciality, as he is not a mechanic,” he said.
“He filled it up himself anyway and it exploded.”
The Bahraini supervisor, the son of a construction company’s owner, was charged with failing to guarantee the safety of the worker, and not providing equipment which would have kept the victim safe.
He denied the charges stating that the required devices were provided, and that the untrained victim had acted on his own accord. However, he did admit to not providing a wheel cage, which protect workers from such accidents, claiming he did not know that it was a requirement to have one installed.
A Public Prosecution report recommended that the supervisor – the defendant – be held responsible for the labour violation, since he is reportedly tasked with making such equipment available.
“Occupational safety codes were not followed in the worksite, and a safe tyre-pressure gauge was not provided, just a manual one, and no cage was provided either,” read the report.
A welder at the garage stated that the tyre pump was working properly at the time and was not experiencing any known malfunction.
Although the case was first heard in the Lower Criminal Court, it was moved to the High Criminal Court following an amendment in the Penal Code, which stipulated that such charges be heard in a higher court.
After the body of 21-year-old Pakistani victim was released to his Bahrain-based family, it was repatriated to his hometown in Azad Kashmir for burial by the Pakistani Embassy.
The supervisor was offered bail at BD100 as the appeals process proceeded through the courts.
He will only start his sentence should he fail to convince judges of his innocence.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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