DUBAI // A man who was paralysed from the waist down after falling 10 metres at work says his employer did not give him a safety harness and he refutes the company’s claims that it was his fault.
Bangladeshi M A, 25, was working on a project in Motor City on April 6 last year when he fell and broke his spine, Dubai Court of Misdemeanours heard on Wednesday.
“I have been with this company for four years, and what happened was not my fault, as they said, nor did it happen as I was climbing the stairs – it happened while I was working,” he said of the incident that left him 85 per cent disabled.
“I was only wearing my helmet but we were never provided with safety belts and we don’t even have a safety supervisor.”
Company supervisor L D, 43, and manager N P, 46, who are both from India, were charged with causing the injury to M A by violating the regulations of their profession through failing to provide necessary training and supervision.
“They both knew that I and my colleagues never had safety belts to wear, they did not provide us with them in the first place,” said the victim.
L D said in records that he was in Sharjah when the incident happened and that he received a call informing him of it and telling him that the worker fell as he was climbing the stairs.
N P said that a safety officer was not hired because the company could not afford it.
Dubai Municipality said in its report that the accident happened because the company violated a number of safety regulations.
A medical report said M A will not be able to perform day-to-day activities independently anymore.
The defendants were convicted by the court and fined Dh2,000 each.
salamir@thenational.ae
