VDI findings on the death of three Vilniaus Vandenai employees: both employer and employees are to blame

VDI specialists stated that three employees of the company in 2020. He died on July 21 in a water well due to lack of oxygen. The workers did not use equipment to warn of oxygen deficiency or gas build-up when going up the well, although they were provided with this protective equipment.

Due to the accident, VDI specialists declared the mutual responsibility of the deceased employer and employees.

The VDI specialists affirm in the conclusions that they may see non-compliance of some company procedures with occupational safety standards, lack of internal control, but acknowledge that the accident was caused by irresponsible actions of the employees and conclude that they were responsible for the safe execution and control. – locksmith and senior engineer – did not observe job safety themselves and did not use available safety measures.

“As the head of this company, I regret the disaster, once again I apologize to the families of the victims for not having been able to save lives. For my part, I can only repeat what I have already said: together with the team we are doing and will do everything possible to prevent a painful disaster from happening again in the company. We have already taken many additional preventive actions and safety measures, ”says Marius Švaikauskas, Managing Director of Vilniaus Vandenai.

According to the report, the company thoroughly reviewed the available safety measures, the flow of investments in employee safety, reassessed each risk step by step, analyzed in detail the details of hazardous work and the preparation of employees for them. After the disaster, workers are also reminded daily of the need to protect themselves.

“I assure you that the company will not shirk its responsibilities. However, after receiving the conclusions from the VDI specialists and the Chief Labor Inspector, we cannot unequivocally agree with them, – says M. Švaikauskas. – In In most cases, we see a formal approach by assessing only compliance with internal company procedures, security measures, instructions with security regulations, but not actual efforts to accurately restore the circumstances of the incident and Identify the causes of the accident The conclusions do not take into account what we consider to be a fundamental detail that the safety devices – including the life-saving gas analyzer – were available to the deceased workers, although they were not used on the day of the accident. AND caused a painful disaster. “

Vilniaus Vandenys also approached the Chief State Labor Inspector to clarify the findings. This request from the company was not taken into account, so Vilniaus Vandenys does not rule out the possibility of appealing them to court.

However, according to M. Švaikauskas, this decision will not change the promise made to the families of the victims on the day of the disaster: they will continue to feel the concern and attention of the company. Without waiting for the SLI’s conclusions, three months after the accident, Vilniaus Vandenys paid compensation to the families of the victims, and the next of kin received the attention of the company’s representatives for the holidays.

“We are doing everything we can, and it is up to us, that this painful and lengthy process of announcing the final findings does not delay any longer and the families of the victims finally reach the unique benefits of the insurance that Sodra pays,” he added. Švaikauskas says. “I would like to thank everyone who assisted and contributed to the investigation, from firefighters to rescuing dead colleagues, labor inspectors, experts, police officers, and our staff who assisted the investigators.”