The Court of Cassation overturned the conviction rulings issued by local courts against the owners of construction companies in two similar cases.
In an incident that occurred at a construction site in İzmir in 2011, a worker employed as a formwork master lost his balance while working on a 5-step ladder leaned against a column on the fourth floor of the building and fell 14 metres. The worker lost his life in the incident, and a case was filed at the İzmir 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance of the time against the architect serving as the site manager of the construction and the owner of the construction company on the charge of ´causing death by negligence´. The court ruled for the conviction of the site manager and the company owner. Upon the appeal application of the defendants’ lawyers, the 12th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, re-evaluating the case file, decided to reject the appeal application of the lawyers of the architect serving as the site manager and upheld the local court’s conviction ruling.
Evaluating also the ruling issued against the owner of the construction company, the 12th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation ruled that the company owner was not liable. The ruling contained the following statements: "In the incident where the deceased, employed as a formwork master at the construction belonging to the limited company of which the defendant is the owner and director, lost his balance while working on a 5-step ladder leaned against a column on the 4th floor of the construction and died after falling 14 metres to the ground; the defendant appointed a person whose profession is architecture as the site manager. Considering that the appointed site manager was competent in his work and that a record exists indicating that protective equipment had been provided to the deceased; given that ensuring the use of protective equipment, supervising it and informing the workers on this matter is within the responsibility of the site manager, and that no fault can be attributed to the defendant in the face of this incident, the issuance of a conviction ruling in written form without regard to this is contrary to law; since the defence counsel’s appeal objections are therefore found justified, it has been unanimously decided that the ruling be overturned for this reason contrary to the request, pursuant to Article 321 of Law No. 1412, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMUK) still in force pursuant to Article 8 of Law No. 5320."
THE SITE MANAGER MADE NO REQUEST WHATSOEVER FROM THE COMPANY OWNER
On the other hand, evaluating a similar case in Tekkeköy, Samsun, the 12th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation ruled that the site manager, who was responsible for taking the necessary safety measures on behalf of the contractor undertaking the construction, was liable for the death of a worker who lost his life as a result of the collapse of scaffolding at a construction site. The ruling contained the following statements: "Since it is understood that the civil engineer—who was tried and convicted in connection with the incident in which the worker lost his life by falling as a result of the collapse that occurred on the scaffolding, and who did not appear for the appeal review—served as the site manager of the construction and was therefore also responsible for occupational safety, and that no claim was made against the defendant regarding the existence of any deficiency related to occupational safety at the workplace; because no fault can be attributed to the defendant on the grounds that he appointed a competent, authorised civil engineer as the site manager regarding the safety of the construction, the issuance, in written form, of a conviction ruling instead of an acquittal is contrary to law; since the defence counsel’s appeal objection is therefore found justified, it has been unanimously decided that the ruling be overturned."The Court of Cassation ruled that, for the death of the worker who lost his life by falling from the construction, the liability lies not with the owner of the construction company but with the site manager, for ensuring the use of protective equipment, supervising it and informing the workers on this matter.
