EMPLOYEE WAS NEGLIGENT, NMC TELLS COURT

GRACE CHAILE-LESOETSA writes @SunZambian NATIONAL Milling Company (NMC) has told the Court that its former worker was negligent in conducting his duties which resulted in an accident where he sustained injuries. This is a matter where Emmanuel Phiri has sued the company in the Lusaka High Court demanding payment of damages for personal injuries sustained during the course of employment. Mr Phiri said that on or about July 17, 2017, while in the course of performing his duties at NMC’s plant, he was involved in an accident when a 50-kilogram bag of flour fell from a conveyor belt and landed on his left shoulder which resulted into serious personal injury. He said due to the injuries sustained, he later lost employment as he was unable to perform his duties. The Plaintiff claimed that the said accident was caused by breach of statutory duty by the defendant. He identified the particulars of breach of statutory duty as failure to fence the Conveyor belt machine so as to avoid it being a danger to the plaintiff contrary to the Factories Act. In its defence filed in the Lusaka High Court, NMC argued that the bag of flour fell from a chute and not a conveyor belt as claim by Mr Phiri. It said  part of the  factories Act states that only dangerous or moving part of a machine must be fenced. NCM contend the chute has no moving or dangerous parts that should be fenced off and that in any event, fencing the chute would have been made less effective and less efficient in doing the work that is designed for. It stated that it took all the necessary precautionary measures to avoid any accidents at the loading bay including adequately training employees on where to stand at the loading bay whilst flour is loaded from the Chute and onto the tracks. “The plaintiff was negligent in conducting his duties and his negligence was the sole cause of the accident as he elected to stand unreasonably close to the loading chute , where he should not have been standing without due regard to his own safety and contrary to all safety protocols,” said NMC. NMC claimed that Mr Phiri was relieved of his duties on medical grounds on September 28, 2019 and was paid all his medical discharge benefits in accordance with the law and terms and conditions of his employment. It also paid all his medical experiences and transportation cost by taxi to and fro the hospital for numerous visits. NMC therefore denies all allegations made by Mr Phiri.