Seven years after the tragedy, justice has been served. The Le Havre court found TotalEnergies Raffinage France guilty of manslaughter in connection with the fatal fall of a worker on February 15, 2019, at the Gonfreville-l'Orcher site in Seine-Maritime. The subsidiary was fined €250,000, an amount exceeding the prosecution's request of €150,000.
The incident dates back to the winter of 2019. A subcontractor working for the Bataille company was on the industrial site when he fell from a walkway approximately eight meters above the ground. According to the evidence examined by the court, the safety barrier came loose as he was installing a pipe between a dump truck and a container. The worker, a father of four, did not survive his injuries.
Security shortcomings identified by the court
At the heart of the debates were the safety conditions on the site. The plaintiffs denounced a series of failures. The court identified several shortcomings, including a non-compliant work plan, a safety protocol deemed imprecise, and the absence of a specific prevention plan adapted to the ongoing operation. These deficiencies were considered to have contributed to the occurrence of the accident.
Bataille, the victim's direct employer, was also fined €50,000. The decision underscores the joint responsibility of the client and the subcontractor in organizing and securing operations.
At the hearing, the victim's family spoke of the irreversible consequences of the tragedy. For its part, the subsidiary's defense argued that the required preventative measures had been implemented and pleaded for acquittal. By imposing a fine exceeding the prosecution's request, the court sent a clear message regarding the need for vigilance in industrial safety, particularly in high-risk environments such as refineries. The ruling serves as a reminder that preventative obligations are not limited to administrative formalities, but also entail the criminal liability of companies in the event of negligence.
