Company ordered to pay fines after miner’s death

A judge in Paphos has ordered a mining company to pay a fine to the Labor office for a series of violations that led to the death of a Syrian worker after a pit collapsed during excavations.

According to local media, the Paphos District Court has ordered a mining company to pay €23,000 in fines for failing to take appropriate safety measures on site.

Three years ago a 40-year-old mine worker from Syria was killed in Paphos district after a collapsed trench buried him along with his excavator.

Local media said the foreign worker had been operating an earthmover at a quarry in Androlykos when a pit collapsed and a massive rock crushed his excavator.

Reports said the father-of-two had been using the machine to crush rocks near an embankment, when a huge rock and pile of dirt came crushing down on his cabin from a height of 16 meters.

A court ruling reported by local media on Wednesday found the company had violated additional rules and regulations, such as not providing adequate health insurance or listing assessed risks involved, along with lack of securing necessary supervision by skilled staff.

The labor office, which filed the case with authorities, accused the company of “failing to ensure either at the start or during repeated works that there had been no dirt piles or unstable rocks near the site activity.”

Court details also highlighted a lack of measures on the part of the company that would have otherwise ensured no laborer would have to work underneath unstable slopes thus being exposed to a deadly danger.

Based on industry recommendations currently in place for the area, where a total of three companies remain active, mining is to take place by hydraulic excavators, while explosives are to be used only when it is “absolutely necessary.”

It was not clear whether the family of the victim had sought any legal action against any party.