DUBAI // A man who passed out after inhaling toxic fumes woke up 15 minutes later to find his arm had been severed, a court has heard.
J P, 40, an Indian, told the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours that he was cleaning a water purification machine on January 18 when he forgot to put on his respirator mask.
“I woke up about 15 minutes later to find that my arm had been sucked in by the machine blades and cut off from the shoulder. I called management right away,” J P said.
He said the company, which is based in the Al Quoz industrial estate, required workers to wear masks when working on the machine because it produced hazardous gases.
“I was alone at the time, with no supervisor, security officers or any of my colleagues present,” J P said.
“But I would never stretch my arm inside the machine when it was working. My arm got stuck inside the machine after I fell unconscious.”
S F, 33, the company’s safety and security officer, told the court that the machine should have been switched off before J P began cleaning it.
“I was called at about 9.30am and informed of the accident,” said the Filipino. “I rushed to him and found he had lost his arm and was bleeding. He was immediately taken to hospital.”
A A, 52, an Indian chemical engineer for the company, said J P had worked there for almost four years.
He suggested J P must have forgotten to switch off the machine before he started to clean it.
“He must have put his arm into the machine to clean some dirt, and somehow the machine pulled his arm inside and cut it off,” he said.
According to a forensic expert, J P suffered an 80 per cent permanent disability from the accident.
Prosecutors charged A A, S F and the company manager, M M, 58, a Syrian, with unintentionally causing J P’s injury by failing to meet safety regulations in providing a supervisor, masks and training courses. They all denied the charges.
The next hearing is September 8.
salamir@thenational.ae
