Supreme Court preliminary ruling KKO:2014:20 - blasting works

It's a good idea to start the blog with a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court from 2014:

"X Oy had built a parking garage as the main contractor in 2007. On September 19, the company's intention was to blast the rock wall of a gateway to make it thinner. On the other side of the rock wall was a parking garage already in use, where cars and people were moving. The thinning excavation failed in such a way that the blasting had loosened and thrown pieces of rock towards the hall and not towards the hall's gateway as had been intended. The pressure wave and rocks had hit the car of the security guards sent there by the company on the hall side, but not the security guards or an outside person." ( KKO:2014:20 | 4.4.2014 | Preliminary rulings | Supreme Court | Finlex ) .

The company had considered the blasting work to be so minor that no blasting supervisor had been appointed and no blasting plan had been drawn up. Furthermore, too much explosives had been used in the case and the bombardier's qualifications had been inadequate.

"They were found guilty of negligently violating the regulations on blasting and excavation work in accordance with Government Decision 410/1986." The end result was a corporate fine of 180,000 euros and the company later went bankrupt due to the incident.

The preliminary ruling in question dates back to 2014, and as occupational safety management methods improve, occupational safety is expected to continue to improve. We will see many more preliminary rulings with significant corporate fines. They can even lead to the company's closure.

This is where Springer Safety Solutions can help companies. Together we can create watertight safety plans, work instructions and risk assessments to ensure that the company's legal obligations are met and there are no unnecessary surprises in court.